The True Dragon Conqueror
by NFS LOVER
Summary: After the events of the Red Death, Hiccup has to leave to learn to become a leader. But when he comes back, all of that will be put to the test. Trust will be tested, people might be lost and the whole continent's fate lie in Hiccup's hands because a new threat, bigger than the Outcasts, more deadly than the Berserkers, is on its way to Berk. CHAPTER 15 UP!
1. I'm Leaving

Chapter 1:

_It had been 6 months since Hiccup and Toothless defeated the Red Death at the Dragon's Nest. Ever since then, life on Berk had never been better. The war with dragons was over and now the Vikings and the dragons could finally live in peace with each other. _

_The dragons became part of everyday life in Berk. They helped with driving off wild boars that used to be a huge problem and fishing had never resulted in the most bountiful catches before the dragons started helping, although there were still a few minor problems._

_The dragons didn't completely get over their 'playfulness'. They still stole some of the fish that was caught. There were still a few petty fights among some dragons, which Toothless normally had to break up, or one of the other four dragons had to. But aside from all of these troubles, people had grown used to their giant friends and have come to terms with living beside them, and through the daily troubles. _

_On the brighter side, the Berk Dragon Academy was doing extremely well. Hiccup, Astrid, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Snotlout were the trainers and did well in coaching the young Vikings about their dragons. Astrid taught the riders about the Deadly Nadder, with her dragon Stormfly. She went in depth about their loyalty to their rider and their continuous grooming. Snotlout coached the riders about the Monstrous Nightmare with his dragon, Hookfang. He taught them about the personality of a Nightmare (although the two of them never seem like the perfect combination with their fighting)._

_Ruffnut and Tuffnut taught about the Hideous Zippleback, but could hardly get anything done because they started to fight with each other if they didn't agree, and so did Barf and Belch, backing up their riders. And finally there was Fishlegs and his dragon, Meatlug, a Gronckle. The trainees could pick the dragon they would like to learn about after seeing the intro about all of them. _

_Even though Hiccup was the head of the academy, he let his friends coach about the dragons because they knew them extremely well since they rode them, knew their strengths and weaknesses and how it was to live with them. The young riders could come to Hiccup whenever they wanted and ask anything general about the different kinds of dragons, or even about the Night Fury. Everything was going well for the people of Berk, but soon one of them would have to leave for a while. _

Present Time:

The whole village was in a frenzy preparing the ship for a departure to the Atlaka, a major Viking city about 400 miles from Berk. One Viking from Berk was on his way to Atlaka to learn the knowledge of being a chief. A place where he could train and know all the pros and cons of being chief, but it wasn't only a journey of being chief. Stoick, after countless hours, days and weeks, convinced Hiccup to take up arms training, how to fight with swords, axes, archery and survival in the wilderness.

"Come on! Haul those supplies faster! We leave in less than 30 minutes!" Stoick bellowed louder than ever. "For the love Odin Stoick, what's got into ya?" Gobber asked his longtime friend, also helping with the loading of the supplies. "Gobber…Hiccup is finally gonna learn all the necessary skills to be a chief, and a warrior" Stoick said, ecstatic for what's installed for his son.

"Stoick, Hiccup already conquered the dragons, defeated the mother of all dragons, and ended the war, he's accomplished more than any of us combined" Gobber said, defending his forge apprentice.

"I know Gobber, and don't get me wrong, I'm as proud as any father would be of his son, but like I told you, I won't be around forever, and Hiccup needs to learn more about being a leader than a trainer. He needs to get in there, solve conflicts, be a shining light for the people when times get tough, make difficult decisions. He needs to know all the traits it takes to be chief" Stoick answered. Gobber nodded in agreement. No one could argue that Hiccup had to know what it takes to be a leader, otherwise it'll all fall apart.

"By the way where is Hiccup?" Gobber asked looking around. Stoick just face palmed himself, knowing his son could be anywhere on the island. "You can't change some things Stoick" Gobber said and continued in helping the others.

_At The Cove_

"So, you're really leaving huh?" a blonde Viking asked as she laid on her back on top of the rock that was next to the small lake. "Yeah, but I don't know for how long I'll be gone" a brown-haired Viking said, who was lying next to her.

It was a beautiful day in Berk. The temperature said otherwise (a chilly 5 degrees) but the sun just seemed to put the cold at bay. The fact that the cove was concealed by many trees, and the suns' rays just breaking through the branches made it a bit romantic for the two. Toothless and Stormfly were also there, watching their riders talk, easily knowing what was going on between them.

"The thing is…my dad's right" Hiccup said, starting to get into something. Astrid rolled to her left so she was leaning on him. "I need to learn the traits of being chief, and also hunting, fighting; I can't rely too much on dragons for help" he said, at which point Astrid rolled on top of him and draped her hands over his shoulders and gave his cheek a small peck, to which Hiccup encircled her waist with his arms.

"You're doing the right thing Hiccup. I know going away is tough on you…on all of us…on me…but it's for the best, so you can lead us" Astrid spoke. "Thanks Astrid, you always know what to say" he said as he stared into her beautiful face. Some of her blonde strands were once again covering over her left eye. Hiccup moved those strands away to reveal her blue eye so it could match the other in equal beauty.

"I promise to be back as soon as possible" he said as he leaned in for a kiss. "You better, if you know what's good for you" she half-heartedly threatened, with that smile he loved. "I know better than anyone to make you angry" he said with a chuckle. "Except for Snotlout" he muttered under his breath, earning a giggle from her. "Yeah, when will he learn that I'm with you?" she asked, getting ready for the inevitable. "Never" Hiccup answered and the both of them locked lips with each other.

Her lips were incredibly soft to the touch, so warm, so caring; it's hard to believe that she's one of the toughest of Vikings on the island and yet be like this with Hiccup. She knew Hiccup opened a completely new view on the world for her through his eyes. That first magical ride on Toothless in the night was the moment her true feelings for Hiccup were revealed. She saw that he wasn't a scrawny, weak Viking…actually he could be the strongest of them because he uses his mind over strength, he doesn't want to push people around, show people he's boss, he's just not like that.

After what seemed like an hour, the both of them disengaged from the kiss and he stared into her blue eyes, while she stared into his green. "We better go, otherwise my dad will release the wrath of Thor" Hiccup said. Astrid just rolled her eyes and got up, pulling Hiccup with her. "Coming to see me off?" he asked, getting on Toothless and seeing Astrid already on Stormfly.

"Really, your what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't see my boyfriend off?" she asked. "Come on, let's go" he said and the two took off towards the docks.

_The Docks_

"It's almost time to go" Stoick said as he waited near the gangplank. "Where's Hiccup?" he asked, starting to get annoyed with his son. "Don't get your beard in a twist Stoick, he's over there saying goodbye to his friends and Astrid" Gobber said, pointing with his hook. Stoick looked to on top of the cliff, the same place where Hiccup stood as he prepared to leave with Toothless to find the Dragon's Nest.

"Goodbye guys" Hiccup said as he went through hugs. "See yah Hiccup, be ready to be a man" Snotlout said, giving his friend a handshake and hug. "Learn all you can Hiccup and tell me all about it when you come back" Fishlegs said, incredibly sad to his friend leave for Odin knows how long. "Bye Hiccup, have a good time" Ruff and Tuff both said as they hugged him.

All who was left was Astrid. "Astrid I…" Hiccup started but stopped as Astrid did something he didn't expect. "OW!" he yelled as Astrid punched him in his arm. "What was that for?" he asked, still holding his arm. She really had a good punch. "I won't be able to do that for some time, and this is for the journey" she said and grabbed his shirt and gave him a passionate kiss, also earning 'oooos' from the group.

When she pulled back from the kiss, Hiccup pulled her into a tight hug, Astrid holding him in an even tighter grip. "I'll see you soon" he whispered in her ear. The two of them knew it might be a while before they saw each other any time soon, but they were trying to comfort each other the best they could. "Counting on it" she whispered back. They both pulled back and stared into each other's eyes while holding hands.

"Time to go son" Stoick yelled from the docks. "Bye" Hiccup said quietly as he let go of her hands and took off to the docks to see off his dad before he left. "Too bad you're not coming dad" he said as Stoick hugged his son. "I know, but Ripper will look out for me" he said. "Don't worry sir, I'll make sure Hiccup doesn't get into any trouble" he said, knowing what he was in for.

Ripper was about a year older than Hiccup, who was now 17. The two of them knew each other well enough. "That'll be a twenty-four hour job right?" Hiccup asked. "I know, it'll be a challenge" he said with a smile and boarded the ship.

"Well this is it" Hiccup said to his dad. "Be careful son, and always know, I couldn't have asked for a better son" Stoick said with his hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Oh no you do, you just didn't get him" Hiccup said jokingly, also earning a laugh from his dad. "Come on Hiccup" Ripper yelled from the deck. "Coming. Bye dad" Hiccup said and got on the ship, with Toothless already waiting on board for him.

As the ship was leaving, Hiccup saw Astrid on the same cliff where they were 6 months ago. She waved after him, and he returned it with a smile. Stormfly was behind her rider all the time, also sad that Toothless would be gone for who knows how long.

"So you ready to be leader?" Ripper asked as he came by Hiccup's side and also looked to see Astrid waving after him. "I don't know…I guess" he simply stated. "Come on, where's the enthusiasm, we're going on an adventure. Who knows what lies for us: pirates, training with some of the best warriors, it'll be quite something" Ripper said, trying to liven Hiccup's mood. "You're right, besides, I bet Astrid would love a new buff Hiccup" he said with a wink and walked away to adjust the mast.

Hiccup blushed under the last comment and looked to the cliff to still see Astrid looking at him. The two of them didn't take their eyes off each other until they were both out of sight for each other.

**A/N: This is my first story for HTTYD so tell me what you guys think of it and please review. **


	2. Coming Home

_One and a half years later_

The same ship that departed the docks of Berk was on its way home again…after a long one and a half years. That was the uncertainty of this adventure. Nobody knew how long it would take for the chief's son to learn all the traits of being a chief, as well as learning how to handle weapons he had built himself. The atmosphere on the ship was that of relief, happiness, anxiety, and just the overwhelming feeling of returning to Berk for the few Vikings who had left on that journey.

A nineteen year old Viking was leaning on the railing of the bow of the ship, with a dragon as black as the night sky on a cold winter's night by his side. The dragon had its dark black eyes fixated on his rider who was waiting for that moment where Berk would finally be in sight, after one and a half years of being away from home. It would be a welcome sight after the continuous training with swords, axes, archery and by now knew everything about leadership. The time taken for his training had also done much change to his body.

His brown hair had grown a bit longer, he was still thin but under his clothes, the flesh on his bones were all muscle and a little fat, but mostly muscle which were well defined when he had his shirt removed. He even had a few scars, mostly from Ripper who didn't take it easy on him in sparring…when Hiccup could fight properly with a sword or axe. Toothless had also done some growing up ever since they left. The dragon had grown another eight feet in length and put on another one hundred pounds, but still had his relatively thin figure for a dragon.

It wasn't smooth for the dragon at first when they docked at Atlaka, where the Vikings still hunted dragons, but when Hiccup told them about what they had accomplished back on Berk, they were just speechless and at fist didn't believe him. But then again, how did someone like Hiccup have a Night Fury following him around like a puppy. Ever since then, other than training, Hiccup was helping the other Vikings to let go of their hate of dragons and learn to live beside them peacefully.

"You're gonna be there a long time Hiccup, we're still a days' journey away from Berk" a familiar voice called behind him. Hiccup turned to see, his now best friend, Ripper walking up to him. Ripper had been by Hiccup's side for the whole time of his training. He had been his sparring partner, a mentor as well, in small ways, someone to hold him up when he fell down and he never gave up on Hiccup. Ripper showed the exact qualities that Hiccup learned he needed in a second-in-command and Ripper was never the jealous type.

Normally someone like Ripper, a perfect fighter, handsome, brave, strong…and so on, would have been upset in protecting Hiccup as in their eyes, they would have seen Hiccup as a weakling, not worth their time and would have done anything to get rid of them. Ripper knew where his place was, but never argued about it. He accepted it and saw there was no reason fret over it as there was no point, plus, he wasn't that kind of person.

"I can't help it if I'm excited Rip" Hiccup responded turning around back to the railing, still keeping an eye on the horizon. "Excited to see yah girlfriend aye?" Rip asked as he leaned his back on the railing looking at Hiccup and started petting Toothless' head.

"By Viking customs, I still haven't 'claimed' her as my girlfriend Rip, so by the law, she's still single" Hiccup said, thinking if Astrid might have moved on, because of the long time they had been apart. He was knocked out of his thoughts by a hard slap on the back. "Have more faith in her Hiccup. She's one of the smartest, most beautiful and strongest Vikings on Berk, she knows better than to go off with someone. She has feelings for you, even though you two aren't an official couple, people know you have it in for each other" Ripped lectured to his friend. It was true, before Hiccup left, he and Astrid refrained themselves from showing any close affection in public, but it was plain to almost everyone in Berk.

"Yeah…but that still won't stop some of the other young Vikings going after her" Hiccup said, once again, not taking his eyes off the horizon. "Look, you've gained a lot over the past year to two, I'm gonna tell you one thing to lose…that pessimistic attitude of yours. It won't do you any good" Ripper said and left to check on how the crew were doing.

Hiccup turned to look at his dragon who was still staring at him with those big black eyes with the green emerald outline. "Excited to be back bud?" he asked to which he got a grunt and one of his toothless smiles from Toothless. "Me too bud" he said while he started to rub under his neck, careful not to hit the spot where it automatically knocked out dragons. _I wonder how Astrid's doing_ he thought looking back out into the horizon.

_Village of Berk_

Stoick couldn't wait for the return of his son. He knew he would miss him, but not this much. Ever since he left, the house seemed empty without his son being in his room, no rumbling in the house, indicating Toothless wasn't there as well. He was at Gobber's dragon care hut, talking about his son's return.

"I can't believe he's coming back Gobber" he said…for the 50th time that day…to him alone. "Yes, you've told me already" his friend said, working on sharpening the teeth of a Monstrous Nightmare, more specifically, Snotlout's dragon. "I wonder how much he has changed" the big Viking said while walking about. "Or hasn't changed" Gobber said with a deep chuckle, earning a semi-annoyed look from his friend.

"Come on Stoick, he may be chief in some time, but he'll still be my little, scrawny apprentice who I tease every day" Gobber said as he closed Hookfang's mouth. "Ye good to go Hook" Gobber petted the head of the large dragon and he went lumbering off to find Snotlout. "But imagine what almost 2 years of training did to Hiccup, and I know Ripper made sure Hiccup did his training" Stoick said, just getting goose-bumps in seeing his son looking like a real Viking.

"Other than Hiccup learning to become a chief, you know about the other big issue, aye Stoick?" he asked his close friend. Stoick thought for a second and then it hit him, "Freiya's Day" he said. "Aye, and I bet who he'll ask to the ball" Gobber said, winking his eye. Freiya's Day is a new holiday that Stoick had made to honour his son for his victory against the Red Death and many other accomplishments made ever since the Dragon Academy was opened. It was held every 2 months on the first Friday of the month.

"Think she'll choose him?" Gobber asked, putting away his mouth cleaning equipment. "We both know that they have feelings for each other Gobber, they're bound to choose each other" Stoick said, having confidence in his son, and his possible future daughter-in-law. "Well then, I'm sure you're not worried about the large competition of young men asking her hand for the ball or even trying to get her to like them" Gobber stated, as a matter of fact. "Yes, I do know, and all the injuries they've sustained when Astrid felt she hadn't made it clear enough for them" Stoick said, recollecting all the harsh bruises in…certain places…she gave them.

"I still don't know how Hiccup survives against her, or what does she see in him" Gobber said, still finding it hard to believe what Astrid sees in Hiccup. "By the way, where are Astrid and the rest of them?" Stoick asked, noticing the young dragon riders are nowhere to be found.

_Cliffs of Berk_

"Come on guys, is that all you got?!" Astrid yelled from ahead on Stormfly. The five dragon trainers were taking an off-day, and decided to spend it having a race around the entire island. "Be careful what you wish for Astrid" Snotlout said catching up with her. Ruff and Tuff were not far behind, with Fishlegs doing remarkably well on Meatlug, managing to keep up with the leaner, faster dragons.

The group were heading back into the mainland and through the forest. "Maybe you should watch where you're flying" Astrid shot back, noticing Hookfang's line of flight was going to take him straight into a tree. "Enough tricks Astrid, you've fooled me one too MANY…!" he yelled as Hookfang suddenly stopped and sent Snotlout flying into a tree. "Ow" was all Snotlout could muster. Astrid and the rest of them flew by within seconds.

"I tried to warn him" Astrid said with a grin as she widened the gap between herself and the others. From then on, it was a clear run for Astrid who arrived at the Dragon Academy which was the finish line for the race. "Another win Stormfly, that's number 110 for us" she said as she got off her blue dragon who nudged her rider with her head and she gladly rubbed it.

Soon, the others also landed in the arena, with Snotlout coming in last place, but with two small branches up his nose, leaves in his hair, and a very smug dragon, who if was human, would be laughing. "That's a good look for you Snotlout" Astrid remarked at her friend's new facial features. "Glad you like it. I'm trying to work it in now" he said, thinking she was serious, or trying to be funny. Astrid simply rolled her eyes, annoyed that Snotlout never let his crush go.

"That was another great race guys" she said as she went up to the group. "The Dragon Academy has done well ever since it was made, we have fifty trained riders and forty more still in the process. Hiccup will be really impressed when he comes tomorrow" Fishlegs said, recapping all the achievements the Academy has had, and anxious for the head of the Academy to arrive.

"Yeah, I wonder how much the old twig has changed" Snotlout remarked. "Wonder if he's still the same scrawny Hiccup" he finished. "Jealous of competition Snotlout?" Ruff asked with a smug. "What, pff…of Hiccup…no way, why would I be scared of him, when I've got all this" he said flexing his muscles. "All the girls fall for this" gesturing to his muscles and his face. "Then why is Astrid dating Hiccup?" Tuffnut asked, completely destroying all credibility of Snotlout's comments.

"Guys, we're not an official couple, ok?" Astrid said, she never really liked discussing about her relationship with Hiccup with her friends, especially the guys. The only real person she felt comfortable discussing this with was Ruffnut since she was a girl, and one of Astrid's close friend. "Yeah, they're not an official couple, which means Astrid's still open…" Snotlout didn't get to finish as he got one of Astrid's deadly right hooks.

"Snotlout, I'm not a trophy to be won, and I'm waiting till Hiccup comes back" she said, standing over him, making sure she made her point. "S-sorry Astrid…of course you're not a trophy…I was just trying to…" he looked over at Fishlegs and Tuffnut for backup. "Uh…well you don't have to wait long, he's coming tomorrow" Fishlegs mentioned quickly to draw attention away from Snotlout. "What?" this caught Astrid off guard. "He's coming tomorrow?" she asked again. When she thought about it for a second, she didn't ask when Hiccup was coming back, just knew he was coming back.

"Yeah, Stoick apparently received a letter from Johann which was from Hiccup about five days ago" Tuffnut explained. "The letter said he'll be here tomorrow, three days before the ball" Fishlegs said.

This was huge news to Astrid. After one and a half years she'll be seeing Hiccup again. She could hardly imagine how much he has changed, but she would get to see that tomorrow. "Oooh, Astrid can't wait for her boyfriend to come back" Ruffnut teased her best friend. Ever since Hiccup left, Astrid and Ruffnut have become really close. "Ugh…he's not my boyfriend!" she yelled, trying at the same time to suppress a blush, which she was losing quickly.

"It's getting late guys, I'm heading back home" Astrid said and quickly got on Stormfly and flew out of the arena towards home. "Was Astrid just blushing?" Tuffnut asked the others as they saw her fly off.

Astrid dropped Stormfly at her shed for the night, said goodnight and began walking towards her house. Honestly, she was pretty excited that Hiccup was coming back. The day they spent together before he left was the only real day where they showed their real feelings towards each other openly.

She reached her house in no time, and as you exit the house, there's a perfect view of the sea and the route where ships normally come. She looked at the sea, seeing it shine its nightly glimmer, knowing tomorrow is the day she sees the ship that she saw sail over the horizon one and a half years ago. "Goodnight Hiccup" she said quietly before retiring for the night.


	3. One Day Left

Hiccup barely got a wink of sleep that night. He had been up watching the stars with Toothless, dreaming of how it would be when he got back. He smiled to himself thinking the reactions on his friend's faces seeing how much he has changed in the time he was gone. At the same time, he wondered how much they have changed.

"You know Toothless, when you think about it…it feels like it was just yesterday we left" he said to his close friend, who had been by his side that fateful day. Toothless made a friendly growl in agreement with his rider, and then one of his signature smiles when Hiccup looked at him. "I bet your excited too eh bud?" he asked rubbing Toothless' head. "Being back home…seeing your friends, catching up with them…_making out with your girlfriend_" he heard an all too familiar voice say behind him.

"Wow…you can't give a guy any privacy…can you?" Hiccup said turning to see Ripper lying comfortably on the railing of the ship with a mug of mead in his hand. "How long have you been there?" he asked again. Ripper had this talent of being in specific place without anyone knowing until he says something. "Long enough. You know, you should really learn to think your thoughts instead of passing them through Toothless" he said walking up to join them.

"Are you still worried about how she'll react when she sees you? Come on Hic…you've changed…a lot…and I mean a lot…" Ripper said, remembering what Hiccup used to look like. "Made your point" Hiccup said, keeping his cool with his best friend, but he wasn't done there. "And I mean incredibly…sometimes I think you're not the real Hiccup" Ripper finally finished. He just loved teasing Hiccup. "Are you done?" Hiccup plainly asked, not amused at all by the teasing.

"Hey, at least I don't go overboard with the teasing like Snotlout does" Rip said in his defense. Ever since Hiccup was five Snotlout had been bullying him and making him feel less of himself than he already was. And it never stopped 11 years later. "Well at least when you get back you can show him who's boss" Ripper said, wanting to see Snotlout put in his place in the Academy. "I'm not that kind of guy Rip. Sure Snotlout is brash, arrogant, over-confident, but he's still my cousin and I have to treat him like family" Hiccup said.

Snotlout had been a pain in his side for many years, and the Thawfest festival was the only chance for him to show Snotlout who's boss. He saw that he was becoming another Snotlout, showing him up, bragging and picking on him during the festival during the dragon competitions. But in the end, he saw how much the games meant to Snotlout, and threw the final race away. Sure he didn't win the Thawfest games for the first time, but earned a kiss from Astrid, for being well…himself…not a bully.

"Personally, someone should stick it to him someday, in my opinion" Ripper said. "Someone yes, but not me Rip, I could never do that to anyone" Hiccup said. It was evident to almost everyone, that Hiccup would never purposefully harm or bully someone out of revenge. He was never that kind of person. "Anyway, what do you think Astrid's going to do to you when we get back?" Ripper asked.

Hiccup face-palmed himself and groaned. _I forgot about her_ he thought. He told her one and a half years ago that he'd be back as soon as possible. "Clearly one and a half years was too long" he said aloud, but meant for himself. "Oden better prepare room for you lad, you'll be on your way to Valhalla a little sooner than thought" Ripper said, patting Hiccup on your back. Hiccup just smiled sheepishly. "You think she won't go for over-kill will she?" he asked.

Ripper just gave him a blank stare. "You're kidding right? Dude, you'll be lucky if she throws you off a cliff" Ripper said. "Yep, that's my Astrid for yah. Lucky me" he said, thinking on how Astrid will react when she sees him. "I'll leave that to you to worry about" Ripper said. Honestly, he loved to see those kind of situations between Hiccup and Astrid. It kept things interesting on Berk, but sometimes he feared for his friend since all Hel would break loose when you have an angry Astrid on you.

"Other than running from a Hofferson, what do you plan to do for Freiya's Day?" Ripper asked. The previous Freiya Days were no big deal since they always went as a group. But Hiccup had now reached a stage in his life where he had to pick a partner who would remain with him for the rest of his life, since he was of age, and the girl he picks for the upcoming event will leave an impression. Well there was no doubt that he would want Astrid. The girl he had a crush on for over a decade, and who knew she'd end up with him…not officially anyway.

How her brightly her golden hair shown in the sunlight, her slim figure, blue eyes, fare skin…oh Oden, she was perfection in his eyes. Ever since the defeat of the Green Death, Astrid saw something in Hiccup that she didn't see in most Viking boys, plus since he was…different…it just made her more curious. Hiccup knew trying to win Astrid over again was not going to be easy, since he knew she'd make it almost impossible…almost.

"I don't know…probably something stupid, like asking Astrid for that" he stated simply. "It's your funeral, what kind of casket do you want, we offer a wide variety" Ripper said jokingly, earning a punch from Hiccup in the shoulder. He wanted to change the subject quickly, so they began talking about the story of another Viking group that did have dragons.

"They said that not too long ago, a settlement to the east, about 200 miles from Berk, had also discovered dragons, but they were able to train them into obeying their every command" Ripper said, from what a few Vikings in Atlaka said. "Their colony is known as the Dragon Clan nowadays because of the close ties they have with their dragons. "Sounds like a nice place to visit, I'd like to learn how they were able to train their dragons" Hiccup said, truly intrigued about that place.

"Their village is called Stofferson and the village leader is someone called Daedra, who used to be a dragon warrior like most of us but changed when he found out he could train them. There have been so many legends and myths about him that's it's hard to say which is true" Ripper continued. "What about his dragon?" Hiccup asked. Ripper gave a smile that told Hiccup he would find it interesting.

"They say his dragon was as black as night, the offspring of lightning and death itself, only attacked during night and nobody ever saw it" Ripper said. "Another Night Fury?" Hiccup asked, not believing that there was another Night Fury out there. "Yep, many tales about him, but most know about his dragon. He's greatly respected by everyone but no one has heard of their village in 10 years" Ripper said. The colony of Stofferson had gone silent in the past decade and no one knew why, and weren't able to find out, since their village had difficult accessibility for anyone who travelled by boat. The only way they could get supplies was that one of their own knew the way in and out of the treacherous waterways that led to the village.

The moon was now at its highest position in the crystal black sky, signaling it was midnight and it would be only another five to six hours until the sun came out. "We better get to bed Hiccup. Want to save all that energy for the welcoming committee" Ripper said, gesturing below decks, where their living quarters were. "You go on ahead Rip, I'll catch up" Hiccup replied. He felt didn't feel like going to sleep just yet.

"Suit yourself Hic, goodnight" and with that Ripper went below decks to catch up on some much needed shut-eye. Once he was gone, Hiccup retreated his thoughts to what was in his pocket. He stuck in his hand inside and pulled out an object that was wrapped in a dark-coloured cloth. When Hiccup removed the cloth, it revealed a small gold nugget, about the size of a cork on a bottle of mead, and a small diamond next to it. He then took out his journal, something he always kept by him at all times, and took his pencil and started sketching a design, clearly linked to the gold nugget and the diamond.

"It will take me some time, but I hope she likes it in the end" Hiccup said to himself with a smile. And with that, he followed Ripper's trail below decks to get some needed rest, to prepare for tomorrow.


	4. Finally Back Home

It was another calm day on the seas surrounding Berk, which means the awaited ship will arrive at a quicker pace. But that was still to wait. It was still dark as night for early hours in the morning, but that a ray of light began peaking over the horizon, signaling the dawn of a new day. Little by little, more rays began piercing the dark sky, the sun spreading its warmth for the people of Berk, given it was zero degrees out. Such weather as this couldn't be more perfect for the return of the Chief's son Hiccup Haddock who had been away for almost one and a half years, exploring the Viking cities, honing his warrior skills and gaining valuable knowledge along his journey. Finally all that would be coming to an end once he reaches the shores of Berk.

_Below Deck_

Toothless had an early start to the day, and was on the top deck, waiting for the other Vikings and his rider and best friend, Hiccup, to wake up. He waited for what felt like hours but soon the deck was filled activity, and all in preparation for when they docked. These were the same Vikings who also left Berk with Hiccup and Ripper to Atlaka for Hiccup's training. Stoick had assigned them for Hiccup's protection but in truth they felt like it was a vacation. Hiccup surprisingly didn't cause any 'accidents' on the trip there…well…none that put the whole ship at risk anyway. And in Atlaka, Hiccup was Ripper's responsibility so they had it relatively easy. But they were sure glad to be home, back to their wives and children for some catching up.

Toothless had yet to see his master come up, but when he saw Ripper gesture to down below when he came up, Toothless knew he had to wake Hiccup. With two quick jumps, careful not to hurt or disrupt anyone from their tasks, Toothless was below deck, which he was able to squeeze through.

Hiccup should have listened to Ripper's advice about getting an early sleep. He was too groggy to move a muscle and the sun shining through the round window didn't help either. "Is it morning already?" he grumbled to himself and pulled the fur cover over his head to make a temporary dark world for him to sleep. He was only able to enjoy a few seconds of his 'extra' sleep before he heard the playful growling of his dragon, and by the sound of it, Toothless was right on top of him. "Come on bud, just five more minutes" Hiccup said without removing the cover from his head.

Toothless made a huff in disagreement and pulled the cover off of Hiccup, who was immediately blinded by the sunlight penetrating his room. "Toothless!" he yelled but only to see the dragon holding the cover in his mouth and those big eyes, which made him look almost adorable. Hiccup just smiled at his dragon's playfulness. "Ok, I'm up" he said as he grabbed his prosthetic leg and fixed it on. He got up slowly, his dragon watching him closely in case something happened. He put on his coat, fixed his belt which now had a place for a sword, he put on his boots. Toothless was getting impatient and made it evident with slight growls and gestures to the main deck. "Go ahead bud, I'll catch up" Hiccup said, with which Toothless gladly responded and darted upwards, leaving a small path of destruction in his wake.

Hiccup just chuckled to himself. For a 25 foot long, one of the world's most dangerous dragons, he seemed like a puppy. Within the next few seconds Hiccup was above deck to be greeted by preparations for when they dock at Berk. "Glad to see you're finally up" Ripper said nice and loudly, excitement evident in his voice to be coming back home. "Well I wouldn't miss this day for anything in the world" Hiccup said, matching Ripper's enthusiasm…to lesser extent. There was a strong breeze towards the island, the masts had full sails to gain every speed they could. "Berk should be within sight within the next few minutes, prepare to see your girlfriend" Ripper teased.

"That is if she doesn't kill me" Hiccup said jokingly, but still hoping she didn't kill him for obvious reasons. "So what's the first thing you're gonna do once we get back?" Hiccup asked, trying to strike up a conversation until Berk was in sight. "First I'm gonna run off the ship and kiss the ground and thank Oden for being back, second I'd like to get a good jug of mead and third watch Astrid throw you off a cliff or something" Ripper said. "You are never gonna let me hear the end of it aren't you?" Hiccup asked. That whole business of Astrid killing him was getting on his nerves.

"Don't lose your prosthetic Hic, she won't kill you…injure you for sure…but not kill ya" Ripper said. He knew Astrid wouldn't kill him but injuring him was definitely on the plate. "Great" Hiccup said, not too thrilled by what Ripper is suggesting. "Look, don't worry about that now, we're not even…_BERK IN SIGHT!_" they heard the foreman yell. When they looked to port they saw the towering semi-mountain of Berk. "Scratch that. Better think of something fast" Ripper said before going to help steer the ship.

_Berk_

It was another usual day at the Berk Dragon Academy. Today's class was composed of children no older than nine. For them it was more demonstrations and lessons about the dragons instead of riding them and experiencing it first-hand. That was only possible when they reached the age of ten. "Today's class was about general facts about the dragons. All the five riders were there for today's class with 20 students.

"So class, today we are going to learn about the dragons' weaknesses and strengths" Astrid said, standing in front of the young bunch with Stormfly beside her and the other four riders and their dragons with them behind her. "So what can anyone tell me about the Deadly Nadder?" she asked. "Ooh, it loves to groom itself" a young girl said, noticing Stormfly tending to something under her wing. "Good, anything else?" Astrid asked. "They are extremely loyal to their rider" a young boy said. "Excellent. Going in further to that they will do anything to protect their rider…" she said but was cut off. "You know Astrid, I would also do anything to protect you" Snotlout said putting his arm around Astrid's shoulders.

"Class this would be a good demonstration. Stormfly!" Astrid called, and as soon as she said that Stormfly let loose her spikes at Snotlout who was smacked against the wall of the arena. "What was that for?" he asked, not able to pull out the spikes which had his clothes impaled to the wall. "I was just demonstrating to the class what a Nadder does when it feels its master is threatened" she said with a smug smile, while most of the students laughed at Snotlout. "Too bad she missed his body" Tuffnut said. "Yeah, that would have been a real mess" his twin Ruffnut said. Those twins didn't really mean it but they were always bent on seeing and causing trouble. But Snotlout wasn't going to let it end there. "Hookfang, show what happens when you mess with the rider of a Monstrous Nightmare" he yelled back, and just as his dragon was about to send a fireball at Stormfly…

"Enough Snotlout, that was just a demonstration" Stoick said coming into the arena with Gobber behind him. "Ok ya lil' younglings, time to scamper off back home" he said and the children soon left after saying their thanks to Astrid and goodbyes to the Chief. "How was today's lesson Astrid?" Stoick asked after everyone had left. "It was productive, they also got a few rides around the arena on the dragons, so they can get a sense of dragons they would want in the future" she explained. "I just wanted to say what an excellent job all of you are doing. Hadn't been easy when Hiccup left but all of you have brought this Academy to its heights" the Chief said, praising them for their work.

"Thanks a lot Chief, now can someone get me down from here" Snotlout asked who was still hanging on the wall. "It can wait Snot" Astrid replied, enjoying this. "So why are you here sir?" Fishlegs asked. "Well I wanted to come by and tell the Academy's old head master will be returning today" he said with a smile. "Hiccup's coming BACK!" they all yelled with smiles…except for Snotlout. "Yes! Finally we get to see him again. I can't wait to hear about his journey, what he found, especially what he learned…ooh, if he brought any samples" Fishlegs said with joy.

"Great, better say bye to the peace and quiet here" Snotlout said, not excited at all that his cousin is coming back. "What's the matter Snot, afraid of competition?" Tuffnut asked, also glancing at Astrid who was speaking with the Chief and not aware of their conversation. "Pff…are you kidding me, that fish bone…that's completely not true" Snotlout said, doubtful is cousin could pull off anything with the girls on Berk especially Astrid…even though she preferred Hiccup over the rest of the guys. "Anyway, what do you think they're talking about?" Fishlegs asked, as Astrid and Stoick continued their conversation. "Probably marriage with Hiccup" Tuff said earning a punch from Snotlout. "Not funny" he stated simply.

"Well guys I have something for us to do" Astrid said coming up to the group. "And what is that?" Ruff asked. "You all will be flying your dragons in a formation for welcoming the ship back and guide it in" Astrid explained. "Wait, there's no plan or anything?" Fishlegs asked. "It's just basically flying with the ship and guiding it in to Berk, simple as that" Astrid said. "Then why aren't you flying with us?" Snotlout asked, which everyone wanted to know. "Because Stoick needs me to do something right now and I won't make it in time ok?" she said, making it clear that she wasn't going to be there and this had to be done well.

"Ok Astrid, we'll get right on it" Snotlout said with a smile, but hoping to get some sort of reward and was gesturing to a hug. "Gotta go, bye guys" Astrid said as she got on her dragon and flew away. But as soon as she was out, she gave herself a pat on the back for that performance. Not the part of guiding the ship in but why she couldn't go with it. She didn't want to see Hiccup that soon because she was in truth, extremely mad at him and wanted to do something dreadful to him. But at the same time she was glad he was back…only that she could throw him off a cliff anyway. "Be back as soon possible, yeah right Hiccup" she said, but her thoughts were interrupted when "…_SHIP ON THE HORIZON!_" she heard below and when she looked she saw the same ship that left the docks one and a half years ago. "Prepare yourself Hiccup" she said and flew to her house.

_Back On the Ship_

Hiccup couldn't believe it. One and a half years later he was returning back home. Every second that went by of him staring at the island seemed like an eternity. He yearned to get back on his home turf. But he needn't have to worry as the island grew bigger and bigger, indicating they were getting closer and closer. Not much had changed, the buildings were the same, the sky behind was beginning to form dark grey clouds, which was meant for the season of winter on this island.

He focused his attention on the docks, where he saw a crowd of people beginning to gather. He turned to Toothless who was now by his side, also excited of being back. "Well bud, we're finally home" he said petting his Toothless' snout. Just then they heard the familiar roars of dragons above, and when Hiccup looked up saw Hookfang, Barf and Belch, and Meatlug flying in circles above them.

"Welcome Back Hiccup!" Fishlegs yelled from above. "Finally came back did ya?" Tuff said. Hiccup just chuckled at seeing his friends again. He would get a better look at them once they dock. "Welcome back fishbone" Snotlout said. Hiccup just gave an annoyed smile. His cousin was never going to change. Just to speed things up, some of the men on the ship tossed an end of rope to the dragons so that they could pull them faster back to shore. With the three dragons both pulling the ship, they reached shore within a few seconds.

"Make way, make way for the crew!" Stoick bellowed as the gangplank from the ship touched the docks. The men from the crew rushed over with their belongings into the arms of their families, with tears of joy. Ripper was the next to come off with his sack. Like he said as he got off he kissed the dock from where they had set off and thanked Oden for returning. "Ripper!" Stoick yelled as he gave him a death hug. "Nice…t-to…see you…too…s-sir" he said through Stoick's grip, and he was losing consciousness as well. Stoick realized what he was doing and quickly let go of the young lad. Ripper gasped for breath as soon he was let go. "So…where's my son?" Stoick asked looking at the ship.

"Should be on his way" he said, still recovering from the lack of air. Then they heard 'oohs' and 'wows' coming in front of them and when Stoick looked up he couldn't believe his eyes. There stood his son, who was now 18 years of age now. He looked nothing like he did one and a half years ago. He grown taller, at least two to three inches, he was still thin anyone could tell by his shirt that he had toned arms, his hair had grown a bit longer and he had some facial hair. Boy did Stoick and his son have some catching up to do.

The crowd swarmed Hiccup, just like when he was number one in dragon training. All of them were amazed at how much Hiccup had changed. "Hiccup!" he heard someone yell his name and didn't have to look before he was taken in a massive bear hug, enough to literally squeeze the life out of you. "Dad" Hiccup managed to squeeze out. "Nice to see you again son" Stoick said, finally letting him go. Stoick hardly ever showed this kind of emotion in public but he was seeing his son after all. "Oh dad, it's so good to be back" Hiccup said, slinging his sack over his shoulder.

"How much have you changed. I'm not even sure you're the real Hiccup" he said. "Yeah well I've been getting that a lot" Hiccup replied. "And there's the old lizard" Stoick said seeing Toothless come up to them. "My you two have grown quite a lot. How does it feel to be back in Berk?" Stoick asked. "It feels great dad, but I'd like to see my friends before I can really catch up with you" Hiccup said, hoping that he didn't offend his father.

"Not at all son, I'm just glad you're back. But make sure to say hi to Gobber alright?" his father asked. He knew as well that Gobber was like a second father to Hiccup and he was his mentor after all and was his assistant in the forge. "Why would I want to miss more teasing from Gobber dad?" Hiccup asked with his semi-amused tone and a play along smile. Stoick smiled at his son's sarcasm and left to attend his chief duties. Soon after his dad left Hiccup was swarmed by his old friends.

"Nice to see you again Hiccup" Fishlegs said giving him big hug. "Hey Fishlegs, how's the academy, found any new dragons or new behaviors?" Hiccup asked, knowing how much Fishlegs enjoyed facts and learning new things about dragons. "Getting there, haven't been many new dragons since that Whispering Death that showed up" he said. "So Hiccup plunder any villages, fought any pirates, any new kinds of destruction?" the twins asked. "Pirates yes, plundering no, and no destruction" Hiccup answered. "But by the looks of it you guys haven't been busy or lost your touch" Hiccup said gesturing around to the peaceful village. "I told you we were losing our edge" Ruffnut said hitting Tuff in the face. "Hey don't look at me, you're the one who comes up with the ideas" he said rubbing his nose.

Hiccup laughed at seeing the two twins going at each other again. Nothing much had changed. "You are definitely not Hiccup" he heard an all too familiar voice behind him. "Hey Snotlout" he said turning around to see his bully of a cousin. "How you've been?" he asked, trying to make small talk. "Well everything was going great until today" he said but it was hard to say if it was a joking tone or a serious or in between. "Listen Snotlout" Hiccup started but was interrupted. "No Hiccup, you listen to me…even though you're different physically you'll still be the same scrawny fishbone Viking you always were and I'll keep beating you at everything" Snotlout said with a smug face. "Ok Snotlout you made your point you're better than me" Hiccup said, not liking where this was going.

"Actually just to prove it…" Snotlout went through a full hook with his right hand but it stopped. He looked up to see Hiccup holding his fist in his hand. He had blocked it with ease! Hiccup did not have an amused expression on his face. It was more of a look of disappointment. After seeing the shocked face of his cousin he let go of his fist which had a hand mark around it. "Why can't you let that go Snotlout, we're cousins" Hiccup said. Snotlout completely ignored what happened earlier and trudged off followed by Hookfang. "Looks like you really did grow up Hiccup" Fishlegs said.

"I just hope Snotlout moves past this rivalry" Hiccup said, truly worried about his cousin. It then occurred to him that he had seen everyone except for Astrid. "Guys, have you seen Astrid?" he asked. They all glanced at each other and shook their heads. "She told us that Stoick had her do something, whatever that is" Tuff said. "Well I'm gonna go look for her, it was nice seeing you guys, we have a lot of catching up to do" he yelled as he ran into the heart of the village, more specifically to the forge.

_Village of Berk_

Everything had settled down since their return and most of the crew were now walking with friends and family, surely telling tales of their adventure and life away from Berk, and all the new wonders and new people they met and saw. _After I find her I have to catch up with everyone_ Hiccup thought. As got closer to the forge, which at the same time was the medical station for dragons, Hiccup saw Gobber working on a Gronckle's teeth. "Well are ya gonna jus' stand there or help me boy" Gobber said without turning.

"Nah, I think I'll leave you to it" he said. "It's good to see you again Gobber, looks like Oden had taken it easy on you" Hiccup said, seeing Gobber didn't age much. "Yeah well when ye' are working on dragons every single day, it keeps ye' young" he said. Hiccup listened to Gobber's rambling about life while looking around the old forge. Nothing had changed at. Weapons were still in their usual places, except for the tools Gobber used. "But enough of me, I'd like to hear about you Hiccup" he said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry what?" Hiccup asked, ashamed that he hadn't been listening. Gobber just made a sly smile. "Thinking about someone are we?" he asked. Hiccup blushed a bit at this.

"If you want to know where she is I think she flew on Stormfly into the forest" he said, gesturing to the area of the cove. "Alright thanks Gobber. I'll tell you and dad everything at dinner" he said and went to find Toothless. "Oh that boy is in for it" Gobber said to himself seeing Hiccup run off.

_Forest of Berk_

Hiccup was now high above the sky on Toothless above the forest that surrounded Berk looking for Astrid. "Keep your eyes out for her bud" he said looking down trying to pick her out. But then when they were exactly over the cove he saw a Deadly Nadder with a young girl standing in front of the small lake. "Down bud" Hiccup said and within a few seconds they were on the ground with Hiccup quickly getting off and Toothless walking over to Stormfly who really wanted to get a nice seat for what was about to happen.

Astrid had heard them land and Hiccup walking to her, but his pace got slower and slower when she didn't turn around. Who would turn around when your supposed boyfriend ups and leaves you for one and a half years and saying 'I'll be back as soon as possible'. Hiccup had to make up for that time and she wouldn't make it easy for him.

"Hey A-Astrid. How have you been?" he asked walking to her ever so slowly, that now he was within an arm's length of her. That got Astrid's temper boiling. "Really, _how have you been_?" she mimicked his voice and right now facing him. "That's all you have to say for leaving me for one and a half _years_! she yelled. Hiccup was now on dangerous water. Nothing was more worse than a mad Hofferson.

"Astrid I'm sorr…" he didn't get to finish as he received a vicious right hook in the face from her. Hiccup fell to the ground with a loud thud, clearly in shock from what just happened. "Sorry isn't going to cut it with me Hiccup!" she yelled. He was now on his back on the ground and her standing over him. "I thought about you every single day since you were gone, and at least hoping for you write to me or something but no! I don't hear or see anything you've written to me and you come back here expecting me just to take you back!?" she asked, thinking or knowing that's what he expected.

"Astrid, it's not what you think?" he said trying to get up but she kept him down. "Then what is it Hiccup, training, fun, adventure…what was it that you couldn't even write a small letter that at least said 'I love you' on it. Tell me" she said. She was right. Hiccup didn't even think of writing a letter back but he could bring up the excuse of training every single day, having classes that went for the entire day for each day of those one and a half years. But he knew better than to bring them up with Astrid. Or he would bring them up some other time when the fight was over.

"Well?!" she asked again, still not getting a response. Hiccup just looked down, knowing he was guilty and didn't answer back. Astrid sighed hopelessly. She took out her axe and dropped it on his groin and it bounced back up into her hand. This earned a huge groan from Hiccup and 'Why would you do that?'

"That was for not sending me a letter. And furthermore, know that I'm not saying a single word to you for leaving me" she said. She then hopped on Stormfly, who was next to Toothless and saw the whole thing unfold, and left.

Toothless walked up to his rider who was still holding his groin and on the ground. "Well I think I would have preferred if she threw me off a cliff" he said. But he was deeply sad and he knew this was his fault but he would explain his reasons later on because now he had to win her back and do it fast.

**A/N: Hey guys, thanks to the readers who are reading this and please review also and it's just gonna get more intense from here on out.**


	5. Hofferson Clan

**A/N: Long time no see eh guys? Sorry but school has got me by the neck and is choking out my time for writing my stories but thank you for the readers who are sticking with this and I HAVE TROUBLE COMING WITH NAMES FOR CHARACTERS SO CAN YOU PM ME ABOUT NAMES, ANY GUYS OR GIRLS NAMES. Thank you! Mainly one for Astrid's dad who's named Aaron but with the names you've PM'd me with I can change it. Thank you**

Hiccup's return didn't go exactly according to plan. Right now he was on the ground, in pain, holding his groin. Astrid had first gave him on of her legendary right hooks, and when he was on the ground dropped her axe on his groin, and gave him an earful before leaving on Stormfly. "What am I going to do bud?" Hiccup asked, still lying on the ground. Toothless just made a suggestive growl in response to his rider's question. "Easy for you to say" Hiccup said with a chuckle as he regained his composure and stood up, still weary of what happened to him. Out of all the injuries he received while training, none of them compared to what Astrid did to him.

Hiccup soon hopped back on Toothless and the pair took off back to Berk.

_Meanwhile with Astrid_

"I can't believe the guts he had" she said to herself as she landed in the back of her house, where Stormfly's pen was. "Leaves for one and a half years and expects me to take him back? You need to start all over again Hiccup" she said, the anger still fresh in her mind towards her 'boyfriend'. She led Stormfly into her pen, which was more like a barn, and after setting up her food and making sure everything was alright, said goodnight to her, and walked inside.

"Astrid, where were you today?" her mom asked. Ingrid Hofferson, one of the best dragon fighters on Berk and one of the most respected, and the person Astrid got all her personalities from. She was like every other Berk woman, strong, loyal and protective of their child. She had long beautiful blonde hair like Astrid's and braided her hair just like Astrid. She had encouraged Astrid to take up dragon training when she was just a small girl and had in the last two years, noticed the feelings her daughter had towards the Haddock boy. She herself was amazed at the gift Hiccup had, and right now, was glad that she and Hiccup were together…that's what she thought at least.

"Oh, I was…around" she said simply walking past her mom who was washing the dishes, and keeping an eye on Astrid's younger brother, Riftide who was 10 years old. "Astrid" her mom said looking at her with that 'Tell me what really happened face'. "What, by around I meant, teaching at the academy and flying Stormfly around" she said, not bringing up the confrontation between her and Hiccup. "So you didn't punch Hiccup in the face?" she asked all of a sudden.

_What, how in Oden's name did she find out about that!?_ Astrid asked herself. "How did you know about that?" she asked quickly, but regretted it as soon as she saw her mom's face. Ingrid had that _I got you smile_ on her face. "Don't try to fool your mom Astrid. A mother knows her children very well, and since you're an exact copy of me when I was young, I know you the most of all" she explained. _"Sometimes I just hate how we're alike"_ Astrid thought. "Did you really punch Hiccup in the face?" she asked, knowing that her daughter did it but still surprised. "Well he deserved it…for leaving me for one and a half years" Astrid shot back and this was a major point.

"I'll give you that dear, but for his defense he never knew how long his training would take, he could have been gone for much longer you know" she said, defending the Haddock boy. "Mom! You're supposed to be on my side, not defending him. You know he could have written me a letter, but no, he couldn't even do that, not even a simple line! He could have given that to Trader Johann to give me when he came. What kind of boyfriend does that!?" she asked, finally getting her problem off her shoulders.

"For the love Oden Astrid, not his fault you're high maintenance" Riftide said with a grin. He loved teasing his older sister, even though he knew very well what her temper was capable of. One day when he broke Astrid's axe, split in half, she literally chased him around the island three times. She would have killed him if Hiccup didn't fix Astrid's axe that same day. That was when Riftide was 7 and Hiccup and Astrid were both 15. Just when Astrid caught him, Hiccup came running and stopped Astrid from seriously injuring her brother. Hiccup had made a lot of changes to her axe that she liked. He made it of a lighter wood for the handle, a stronger metal for the blade, a strap so that it wouldn't slip and engraved her initials on the blade. And he did all that in a day. Of course she was amazed at the craftsmanship but Hiccup said it was nothing. Riftide owes Hiccup his life for saving him that day.

"Zip it you little twerp, or do I have to do it for you?" Astrid threatened with her fist rolled into a ball in front of his face. "Shutting up now" he quickly said and turned back to the sharpening of his tiny wooden sword. "Enough you two, and Astrid I think you may have a taken your anger a bit too far with Hiccup. Remember it's just his first day back here and you've already given him a mark on his face" she said. "Not to mention what I did to his groin" Astrid said under her breath, which her mother heard…unfortunately.

"YOU DID WHAT TO HIS WHAT!?" she asked, fearing the worst. "Relax mom, it's not like I didn't cut it off or anything" Astrid said sitting down at the table, smiling to herself a bit. _I wouldn't go that far_ she thought. "Oh thank Freiya" her mother said putting her hand on her chest. For a moment there she thought she'd have to explain to Stoick what happened to his son. Luckily she wasn't carrying the pot of fish stew when Astrid said that, otherwise dinner would have to be prepared again.

"Astrid, I should be mad at you for doing that to Hiccup, but at the same time you did have a good reason, but the wrong kind of punishment" Ingrid said as she placed the pot on the table. "And dear could you help set the bowls and spoons" she asked as she went to get the bread. "Wrong punishment or not, he got it in the end and knows how I feel about him leaving" she said as she placed the bowls and spoons.

At that moment they heard the front door open and a huge bellow throughout the house. "How is everyone? Good I hope" the voice said. Astrid just smiled. It was her dad, Aaron Hofferson, another former dragon killer of Berk but has since turned towards diplomacy, and is one of Stoick's top 5 men. If diplomacy doesn't work, then it's the traditional way of getting things done.

"Dad!" Riftide yelled happily from his place. "Hey there ya little warrior he said rubbing his son's head. "So how are my two beautiful ladies?" he asked sitting down. He was always a joy to have around. He was a good father, disciplined his children when needed but they never went out of line and if they did, he never really shouted at them, just talked to them until they realized their mistake.

"Not bad dear, so what did Stoick want to talk about?" Ingrid asked placing a bowl of fish stew in front of him, with a kiss on the cheek. "Oh just the upcoming festival, all the decorations, food, games, that sort of stuff, and a way we can incorporate the dragons into it" he said. "You're gonna have the dragons in it?" Riftide asked, more like yelled with enthusiasm. "Yes they are, since they've become like family with us, they also deserve to be at the festivals. "That sounds great dad" Astrid said.

"Oh, you should be excited as well Astrid, Stoick wants you to help plan how the dragons can be incorporated into this festival" Aaron said. "He wants me to decide and plan how the dragons will be in this festival?" she asked, not believing it. "Well you and Hiccup" Aaron said, to which Astrid's heart almost dropped. "What's wrong girl, looks like you've seen a Whispering Death?" he asked, seeing his daughter's expression. Ingrid also noticed this and spoke when Astrid still didn't open her mouth.

"She confronted Hiccup today and…let's just one of them didn't leave unscathed in that confrontation" she said, and Aaron knew immediately what Astrid might have done. "I'll never understand you women and your feelings and emotions" was all he said. "Let's just hope he forgives you dear" he said as he began drinking his soup. "More like me forgiving him for leaving me for one and a half years is more like it" Astrid said, not happy at all that she and Hiccup will have to work together.

"By the way dear, isn't Freiya's Day in just 3 days?" Ingrid asked. They wouldn't have enough time setting up all the decorations and food and training the dragons for this festival. "Ah yes, since that rogue dragon has started appearing again, Stoick has decided to push the festival back a week so that'll give Hiccup enough time to help Astrid with the planning and maybe catch that dragon" he explained.

"Where is Stoick now?" Ingrid asked. "He's back in his home, waiting for Hiccup to discuss the same thing" he said, and noticed Astrid break the bread unusually hard that she also crushed most of it in her hand. Aaron let out a sigh. "Look Astrid, I know you're mad…" "mad would be an understatement" she interrupted him. "I know you're mad at him and I know two things about that boy, one, he's as stubborn as a yak and two, he doesn't know when to stop, so he'll try and make it up to you but don't take it too hard on him" he told her daughter.

"Ok dad, I'll take it easy on him" Astrid said. She knew Hiccup would try to win her back and show that he was sorry, and honestly, she was waiting to see what it was, but would make it difficult for him, despite her father's request.

**A/N: So there it is, Please Review and PM if you have any questions and with the suggestions of names. **


	6. Hiccup's Side

**A/N: Well guys here's another chapter giving Hiccup's side of the night. It's been a while since I've been able to update, somewhat regularly and I'd like to thank for the reviews in the last chapter and please tell any other readers you know about this story cause it seems to be successful with you guys and the story is still young. So please review and I'll try and update as soon as possible. **

Hiccup and Toothless landed right in front of his home. Nothing had changed on its exterior and he was sure nothing had changed on the inside since he knew how in-tune Vikings were with the old ways, especially his father, other than the whole peace with the dragon thing. As he approached the door, he could her laughter coming from the inside, and heard the familiar voices of his father and Gobber.

He let himself in, the door making a creaking noise as it opened, which grabbed the attention of Stoick and Gobber who were sitting at the table with mug of mead in their hands. "Ah there's ma boy!" Stoick said seeing Hiccup enter along with Toothless. A fire was already blazing with a fresh piece of yak meat on a spit cooking above it. "Hey dad" Hiccup said. His voice had stayed relatively the same since he last left, but just a little deeper, but not that much.

"So how has your day gone son?" he asked, seeing Hiccup take a seat at the table. "It was…eventful" he said, pouring himself a mug of water, not wanting to talk about what happened with Astrid. Stoick knew better that Hiccup would have wanted to talk about his day, but hearing that small pause in his sentence meant something happened that he didn't want to talk about. "Ok son what happened?" he put it plain and simple.

"What do you mean dad?" Hiccup asked, trying to delay the inevitable topic. "What happened today? I know you're hiding something" Stoick said. "He just doesn't wan' to talk about his talk with Astrid" Gobber said, knowing full well of why Hiccup didn't want to talk about his day. Hiccup cursed himself under his breath. He was really annoyed at how his mentor could read him so easily. Or that Stoick knew what the problem was and didn't want to say anything before he could.

"Is that true Hiccup?" he asked. Hiccup stayed silent, looking into his mug. "Hiccup if there's a problem, let it out, maybe I can help" Stoick said, truly wanting to help seeing his son's depressed face. "It's just all my fault dad" he said not looking away from the water in his mug. Stoick and Gobber both looked at each other before looking back at Hiccup. "What is?" Stoick asked. "I told Astrid I'd be back as soon as I could and look…one and a half years later I'm back" Hiccup started. Stoick nodded, indicating he knew that part but still didn't get why Hiccup was so down right now. "Well can she really blame you son. You yourself didn't know how long you'd be away" Stoick said, defending him.

"That's what I told myself, but then I realized I could have sent her something, a letter, or a gift…but I didn't…I didn't take the time to write a letter that at least said _I love you_ on it. I know people are saying I've changed, but I'll always be _Hiccup the screw up_" he said. On the way back he thought about what Astrid said over and over in his head and he finally realized himself that it was _his_ fault, with no argument whatsoever. It wasn't like he had to train for twenty four hours every single day, he had time to do all what Astrid said he could've done…and he didn't. She was right to be mad at him. Hel, he even thought she should dump him for being so blind. And he realized something else…he _forgot_ about her. Not all the time, there would be the occasional time where he would come across a sketching of her in his journal, but other than that, not really.

"I'm a horrible boyfriend" he said putting his head in his hands. Stoick hated seeing his son in distress, especially the day he comes back. But hearing all that from his son wasn't quite so surprising since he's…Hiccup. He knows that his son will take any burden upon himself and will admit to it, and seeing Hiccup worried like this worried him as well.

"Son, I know you're worried about your relationship with Astrid, but I'm sure you'll work things out with her" Stoick said. "He's right lad, it's not that end of the world for ya" Gobber said, who was also listening to the conversation. Hiccup's mood didn't change at hearing how his father and Gobber were trying to calm him. "You guys don't get it. Astrid won't let it go that easily. I'll have to try to get her all over again, and if any other guy finds out about this…" he stopped there, not wanting to say what other men might do. Astrid is the most attractive girl…of her age…on Berk and there are many young suitors…namely Snotlout…but he's worried that she'll leave him.

"Hiccup, you weren't here for one and a half years so you haven't seen what Astrid did to some of the young men who tried to woo her while you were gone, and they all kept getting the same response when she was through with them…_I have someone_" Stoick explained, hoping that would brighten up Hiccup's day, in knowing that if he played his cards right, he could still show her how much he loved her.

That news did liven up Hiccup a bit, but not that much since he had to make it up to her. "Well at least we all know what she'll do to me again if I mess up" he said in his sarcastic voice. "She did something to you?" Gobber asked, with Stoick also raising an eyebrow. "Yeah…she punched me in the face…and dropped her axe on my…" Hiccup gestured to his crotch and Stoick and Gobber were wide-eyed. "Boy, you're lucky she didn' throw you off a cliff" Gobber said. "I'm actually wishing she did" he replied with a smile to which Stoick and Gobber also let out a laugh.

After their little conversation, Stoick decided to press on to more serious matters.

"Hiccup you know that Freiya's Day is coming up right?" Stoick asked. "Yes, not that I'm going since I don't have a date" he said. "Well, we're pushing it to one week from now" Stoick said, bringing relief to Hiccup, but with a few questions. "Really? Why?" Hiccup asked. They wouldn't normally postpone a holiday but since Freiya's Day is relatively new, he guessed it was an exception.

"Well first off we are behind in the decorations and food and the whole set-up for the festival, but we have another problem" his father said with grim eyes. "It looks like Toothless' friend is back" Gobber said. Both Toothless and Hiccup looked at Gobber, not completely clear of who he was talking about. "The Whispering Death" Stoick said which earned a growl from Toothless.

"But Toothless won their fight and last time I saw that dragon went underground and never heard of again" Hiccup said, surprised that the Whispering Death would be coming back. "Well it hasn't been coming regularly. More like once or twice a month and it never took anything, just damaged a few buildings and it looked like it was looking for something" Stoick explained.

"Looks like some dragons don't honour the code" Hiccup said jokingly while rubbing Toothless' head, who seemed to be much calmer than Hiccup expected since this was an enemy from the past. "So you want me to track it down?" Hiccup asked. "Oh no, we can't risk you getting hurt like last time. I just wanted to bring you up to speed about what has happened in the more recent days" Stoick said.

"It's also because we need you to train the dragons to have them in the festival" Gobber said with which both Hiccup and Stoick stared at him; Hiccup with a surprised face and Stoick with a mad face. "Gobber! I was going to tell him that!" he said to his friend. "Sorry Stoick, jus' slipped out" Gobber replied, and Stoick just face palmed himself. "I don't think I should have you around when I tell good news" he said.

"You're bringing the dragons into the festival?" Hiccup asked with excitement, since he would be able to start working dragons almost immediately after returning. "Yep for the first time since the festival was made and that's another reason why we're postponing the festival so that you and Astrid have enough time to train them" Stoick said and as soon as he said Astrid, Hiccup just spat out the water he was drinking.

"Who's helping me?!" he asked, hoping he didn't hear right. "Yes son, Astrid is helping you train them. She was in charge of the academy in your absence and has also excelled herself in training dragons, so she'll be a perfect partner" Stoick said as he got up to get a piece of the yak meat that was cooking over the fire. "But dad, after just what happened? I don't think she'll agree to it" Hiccup countered. He had the utmost confidence that Astrid would refuse to help him accomplish this task.

"That's why her father is probably talking to her about the same issue right now" Stoick said as he sat back down. "You see Hiccup we had a chat with her father, and ya' know we didn' think you two would' av had this fight when you came back, that was unexpected as we thought you two would'a love to work together, but it's too late to change that, and now that'll give you perfect time together to make up" Gobber said.

Hiccup just sighed in defeat. There was no way he was going to get out of this, without ruining Freiya's Day anyway, which would not be happening. "Fine…I'll work with her, but don't expect me to live when this is over" he said as he got up and walked to his room upstairs, followed by Toothless. "Don't you want dinner?" Stoick called from below. "I'll come in a while dad" Hiccup said as he walked into his old room.

Nothing had changed since the day he left. Everything was still in its place bringing a smile to Hiccup's face about all the memories after the death of the Green Death. When he came to his bed he saw the toy dragon that his mother gave to him, and he remembered the trip to Breakneck Bog to retrieve it.

"We had a lot of good times eh bud?" he asked Toothless who was now busy warming up his bed and getting ready for sleep. Hiccup sat on his bed and took out his journal to write in the day's events, but when he reached into his pocket to get his pencil, he felt something rough and round and when he pulled out, it was a gold nugget, a nugget that can be enclosed by your fist. And when he opened the most recent page in his journal, he saw the designs of a ring he drew on his way back to Berk.

"Just a little bit more time" he said and put the gold nugget and journal on his desk. He looked back at Toothless who was fast asleep. He got up and went down to have dinner with his dad and Gobber. It was going to be a long night, talking about his adventures, the training and all the mishaps.


	7. Whispering Death

**A/N: Well watched the whole series of Rider of Berk, so all the chapters now take place from the last episode of the series. And sorry if this chapter isn't in as much detail as the others, since it's been a while, so please bare with me. **

Hiccup's first day in Berk was definitely eventful. He managed to see all his friends, caught up with news with his father and Gobber, and a not so pleasant conversation with Astrid, which did involve him getting hurt…really hurt. He saw his friends, got to catch up with news on Berk and with his father and mentor. He had talked about the adventures he and Ripper had while at sea and at Atlaka. On one occasion they were chased by pirates at sea for 3 days, mostly because both ships were stuck in fog and they kept running into each other, and it would have gone on longer if Hiccup didn't decide to end it with Toothless firing a plasma blast at their ship's mast.

Out of all the events that happened on Berk while he was away, only one caught his attention. Stoick mentioned about Toothless' old nemesis, the Whispering Death, returning. But that was impossible since Hiccup remembered seeing the dragon on Outcast Island. But this Whispering Death, if they were the same dragon at all, only came about two or three times a month, and did no damage to the village. Stoick said that it looked like it was looking for something or someone. Guess some dragons don't honour the code. Before retiring for the night, Hiccup had already planned what he was going to do the next day. As Hiccup lied down for a goodnight's sleep, he looked at Toothless, "get a good night's sleep bud. We're going to say hi to an old friend".

_The Next Day_

Hiccup woke up as soon as the first ray of sunlight hit his face from the window in his room. He let out a huge yawn and stretched the stiffness in his body away. He looked to Toothless' bed and saw that he wasn't there. "Of course he would be up" Hiccup said as he got out of bed and put on his shoe and went down to prepare for the day ahead.

"Morning son" Stoick greeted his son as he came down. "Morning dad, I'm off to the academy" Hiccup said grabbing a sack and packing some food. "Going to train with Astrid?" he asked, remembering what he told Hiccup to do for the preparations for the festival. "Yes, and it's going to be a long day, so I need the energy" Hiccup said, as he left the main room to the door, hoping he didn't give anything away. "That reminds me, I won't be able to check up on you since my schedule is packed today" Stoick informed his son. _Yes_ was all that Hiccup thought, before closing the door and hopping on Toothless who was already outside waiting for him and took off for the academy.

"Now what am I going to tell the others?" he said to himself. He had to find some way to get them to stay behind instead of them following him. He had to think of something soon because the Dragon Academy was already in sight and Toothless was making a dash for the entrance. Hiccup saw that the others were already there, including Astrid. _Damn, this is going to be harder than I thought_ he said to himself as he got off Toothless.

"How does it feel to be back Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked, who was still petting Meatlug. "Nothing has really changed has it?" he asked looking around the arena. It was just the way it looked one and a half years ago. "Accept the person in charge?" Snotlout remarked, puffing out his chest and trying to look macho. _Well Snotlout definitely hasn't changed_ Hiccup thought. Ruffnut hit Snotlout in the back of the head, "Nice try yak brains, Hiccup knows Astrid was the one in charge" she said. Hiccup looked at Astrid who still didn't make eye contact with him. "So what's the plan today Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked.

"Uhh…" Hiccup tried to think of something fast. He couldn't let them know what he was really on about today. He was told to work with Astrid to help train the dragons…._That's it!_ he thought. "Well, all of you guys are supposed to help with the festival by training the dragons to perform in it" Hiccup said. He knew Astrid knew that something was wrong because he saw that quizzical look on her face and looked at him as well. "Wait, we're going to train the dragons to perform in the festival?" Tuff asked. "Oh this is going to be good, we have to teach Barf and Belch new tricks for destruction" Ruff said. _Clearly the twins haven't changed_ Hiccup thought.

"Guys, it's supposed to be for a celebration, not a revolution" Hiccup said. "That's a great idea Hiccup, we should start a revolution" Tuffnut said and sharing new ideas with his sister. Hiccup just face-palmed himself and shook his head. "Well we can all see how this day's gonna turn out" Snotlout said. "So Hiccup what's first?" Fishlegs asked.

"Oh well Astrid will be in charge because dad told take care of a boar problem in the forest" Hiccup quickly said. "And I'll be second in charge" Snotlout said getting closer to Astrid, who knocked him away when he got too close. "So you're not going to be with us?" Ruff asked, while Tuff got their dragon ready behind them. "Oh no, I'll checkup…to make sure everything is still intact when I get back" obviously seeing the target Tuff was setting up. "Don't worry Hiccup, we'll come up with a plan today and tell you all about it" Fishlegs said glad to have Hiccup back. "Well at least I know two of you guys will do good" he said, the other person being Astrid.

"Don't worry fishbone, me and Astrid will handle things here" Snotlout said putting his hand around her shoulders. Astrid just rolled her eyes and punched him in the stomach this time. "How many times do I have to tell you, never touch me" she yelled at the boy who was trying not to spill his breakfast. Hiccup just chuckled at Snotlout's predicament and with his goodbyes, got on Toothless and headed for the forest.

_Forest of Berk_

Hiccup had just finished scouting half of the forest of Berk in the air. He was looking for any large hole in the grounds where the Whispering Death could have come from and escaped. "It just doesn't make sense, Alvin wouldn't have let the Whispering Death escape…unless he trained it…but he doesn't have me anymore…besides I was gone for over one and a half years, and dad never told me about him attacking" Hiccup said to himself. This Whispering Death business really enticed him once again that it was bringing up previous adventures.

"If this one is different, let's hope we can train it" he said to Toothless who just growled in response, Hiccup not knowing if he agreed or disagreed. After ten minutes of searching the to the left an open clearing which bore a huge hole in the ground that could have only been made by a Whispering Death.

He got off Toothless who ran up to investigate the hole. Hiccup saw Toothless sniff the whole and unlike last time, didn't growl. Even when Hiccup also peered down the hole, Toothless didn't push him away or try to keep him away from the hole. "Well what is it bud? Is it your old friend?" he asked and Toothless just responded by looking at him with his big eyes. "Of course, you don't understand me" Hiccup told himself while scratching Toothless' chin.

All of a sudden Hiccup heard a twig snap behind him. He now carried a sword at his belt and it had its own cover and he made it himself. He unsheathed it and turned around to survey his surroundings. Even Toothless heard it and was on the alert, because if it was the Whispering Death, they would have to get away fast. Hiccup got in a fighting stance, his sword at the ready as he kept his eyes on the forest in front him…the direction he heard the sound from.

"Show yourself" he yelled…no response. Toothless was also ready in case the mysterious living being was a hostile dragon…or his old nemesis. Hiccup lowered his weapon and turned back to the hole, but he didn't put his sword back its place. He was waiting if he would hear the sound again. _Crack!_ He heard from behind him and on impulse he threw the sword at its target. He stood shocked at what he hit…almost hit anyway.

Astrid stood still, not being able to even move or breath as there was a sword right in front of her, embedded in the trunk of a tree, about a few centimetres in front and at her eye level. If it was a few more centimetres to the left of where Hiccup was seeing it from, it would have gone right through her head.

Astrid on the other hand was astonished at what Hiccup just did. He threw a sword and it almost hit its target. She was actually impressed by how much his skills had grown. But soon that feeling gave way to complete anger and she grabbed the handle of the sword and took it out and turned to Hiccup with death written all over her face. If Hiccup could be a Changewing, he wished it was at that exact moment, so she couldn't see the look on his face, or see him at all in fact since she would try and kill him.

Hiccup looked at Toothless also see the same expression…shocked as Hel. He turned back to Astrid who was now marching towards him with the intention of killing him right there. "Now As-Ast-Astrid…let's talk this out…" Hiccup said backing away from the fast approaching Hofferson. "Talk…hm? Let me see, you couldn't have said that before you threw your axe at my head!" she yelled. She was now only 6 feet away from him, and he was still backing away, not paying attention to anything behind him.

"A-at leas-least I-I missed" he said, giving a crooked grin. "Oh yeah, by this much!" she yelled and showing her two fingers which appeared to be only five centimetres apart. "The-Then why did-didn't you…say something when I…ahhh" Hiccup yelled as he fell down the hole he was examining a few minutes earlier.

Astrid peered over the edge to see Hiccup lying flat on his back. "I'm ok" he groaned, making a small giggle come out of Astrid at his sarcasm. He always did that to lighten up tense moods, which was something she loved about him. _"Focus Astrid! Make things difficult for him"_ she told herself, and jumped down as well. Toothless also followed the teens into the hole.

"So…can I have my sword back?" Hiccup asked after cleaning himself of the dust and standing upright now. "First, tell me why are you trying to get yourself killed?" she asked, pointing the sword at his neck. "Once again, I'm sorry for throwing the sword at you…and answering your question, I want to try and find that dragon so I can try and train it" he answered. Astrid thought he was out of his mind.

"Hiccup, this is one of the most feared dragons out there! It tried to kill you the last time and what makes you think it's not going to try the same?" she asked with her hands on her hips. Hiccup missed the way how beautiful she looked like that when she interrogated him. "Well?" she asked snapping him out of his thoughts. "That's if it is the same dragon since the real one is with Alvin, and I just want to see how this one is" Hiccup answered plainly before taking his sword from Astrid and placing it in his scabbard.

"Why are you so worried anyway? I thought we weren't together anymore" he asked, a smug grin plastering his face. "I'm not worried about you. I came because you lied to us _again_" she said, putting emphasis on 'again'. "And before you ask, don't worry, I left Fishlegs in charge so nothing should get too out of hand" Astrid said.

"So since you're here…that means" Hiccup was hoping that their little problem was over but he was expecting too much. "I'm not letting that go, you still have to make it up to me" she said before walking past him. Since they were down here, they might as well start searching for this dragon. Besides they had Toothless so the search should be quicker. Hiccup quickly ran and caught up with her while Toothless went ahead making sure they weren't taken by surprise.

The tunnels were much like the ones of the previous Whispering Death. The roots of trees were sheered through, only a few gaps of sunlight penetrated the tunnels, light the dragon was sure to avoid. Everything was eerily quiet. Toothless had bounded off into the maze of tunnels leaving Hiccup and Astrid alone.

It has been ten minutes and they still haven't found the Whispering Death, and since Toothless had gone bounding off, the silence had made it awkward between the two of them. "So…" Hiccup said, breaking the silence between them, hoping to start a conversation. "Uh…how have you been?" he asked. Astrid just rolled her eyes and tried to suppress a smile. That was the same question he asked her the day he came back. "Are you really asking me that again?" she asked, not turning to look at him. "Astrid…you know I love you more than anything in this world, but what will it take to make it up to you?" he asked, now walking in front of her, so he was walking backwards while facing her.

"Let me think and I'll get back to you" Astrid shot back and continued ahead. Hiccup was out of ideas. He didn't know what to do show her he loved her dearly…well anything that won't get him hurt now. But then, he thought of something that could work, risky but it could spark her love for him again.

Astrid felt Hiccup grabbed her hand. "What the…" she said but wasn't able to continue as she was spun around and felt Hiccup's lips on hers. At first she wanted to kick him in the groin for attempting such a bold move but soon that feeling passed as she felt the love and passion Hiccup put into the kiss. She soon melted into the kiss and placed her arms around his neck while he had his hands around her waist. A minute later they pulled apart for air with Hiccup grinning at her. I take it by the blushing that you liked it. Astrid just smiled playfully and pushed him away. "Ok dragon boy, you've showed you still care, now take it to the next step" Astrid said and continued up ahead, trying not giggle from what just happened and the look on Hiccup's face when she said that.

"What does that mean?" he called behind her. _I'm never going to understand women_ he thought to himself and again caught up with her.

"Where do you think that dragon is?" she asked, but soon her own question was answered when they saw the huge head come out a tunnel and was looking right at them. "Run!" Hiccup yelled and pushed Astrid the other way so she was running ahead of him. "What about Toothless?" she called as the Whispering Death bore down on them with its huge mouth open and its teeth already spinning. "He can take care of himself, I'm more worried about us!" Hiccup yelled as they jumped into a nearby tunnel, narrowly missing the mouth as the dragon tore past them.

"There" Hiccup pointed down the tunnel they were in as it led to an exit above ground. They heard the blood-curdling roar of the Whispering Death, indicating it was coming back. "Go, go!" Hiccup yelled and they took off for the exit. "Quick, let me help you up" Hiccup said. Astrid got one foot on Hiccup's hand and with all his strength heaved Astrid up for her to try and get a grip on the edge of the hole. "I can't reach it!" she said and fell back down but Hiccup caught her before she hit the ground.

Before she could even thank him the Whispering Death peered its head into the tunnel and saw them and went straight for them. They were trapped, about to be torn to shreds by its rows of razor sharp teeth. When it was no more than ten feet away, Astrid clutched Hiccup with her head in his chest and Hiccup turned also lowered his head so it was touching hers as they feared this was the end. But then they head the dragon howl in pain and when they looked up saw it was being dragged out of the tunnel they were in. When it was out of sight, Toothless came bounding in, grabbed the two of them and flew out of the cave.

Toothless flew to a certain height, let go of them but quickly got under them so they could take this dragon on. Hiccup quickly put his metal foot in its place and Astrid was holding on tightly to Hiccup's back.

The Whispering Death burst out of the ground with its roar which could even wake up the dead. It was clearly mad at how they had entered its home and was going to make them pay.

Again it was cloudy, meaning this dragon's one weakness was at bay. However Hiccup noticed something about this dragon. Yes it was the same colour as the one before but it didn't appear to stare at Toothless with death written in its eyes. Plus he also noticed that Toothless never seemed on edge with this dragon. Sure it was dangerous as Oden when he was angry, but Toothless didn't appear to keep Hiccup away. This was a completely different Whispering Death.

"We have to knock it unconscious" he said as Toothless circled the dragon from above. "And how do you propose we do that?" Astrid said. Hiccup looked at their surroundings, and quickly a plan developed. He saw a small cliff with a few loose boulders at the top. If he could get the dragon below those boulders and fire at them with a plasma blast, he could capture the dragon.

"Toothless get him to the cliff" Hiccup said pointing to the cliff. Toothless seemed to understand what his rider wanted and fired quick plasma blasts at the Whispering Death pushing it towards the cliff. "That's it, just a bit closer" he said. This dragon didn't even try to retreat underground. For some reason, this one stood its ground and tried to fight Toothless. _This has to be recorded in the Book of Dragons_ Hiccup thought.

However the Whispering Death fired its spikes at them. "Ahh!" Hiccup yelled and Astrid gasped at what just happened. Out of all the spikes, one hit Hiccup in the shoulder. Toothless saw this and was completely enraged at what this dragon did. Toothless quickly fired high velocity plasma blasts at the boulders on top of the cliff and all of them fell one by one onto the Whispering Death, burying it under the sheer weight of what looked like to be 10 tonnes of rubble.

Toothless landed some twenty feet in front of the rubble where the head of the Whispering Death could be seen and its eyes closed but it was still breathing, which was important.

Hiccup got off, clutching his shoulder which had a twelve inch spike in it. "Stay still" Astrid said as she inspected the wound. It couldn't be pulled out here in case it hit any major blood vessels. "We have to get you back to Berk now" Astrid said, with deep concern in her eyes. "But what about the dragon?" Hiccup asked, who was much more focused on the huge unconscious dragon under the rubble. "Hiccup you are more important right now than that thing" Astrid said as she applied some pressure to slow the bleeding.

"What in Oden's name is this?!" they both heard and when they looked up saw Stoick on Thornado and the rest of the teens on their dragons. Thornado landed close to them and Stoick quickly got off and rushed to his son. "What were you thinking boy?" he asked as he saw the state of his shoulder.

"That the Academy could use a new dragon?" he said with wry smile through the pain. "You could have gotten killed!" Stoick yelled as he looked at the lumbering Whispering Death which Toothless kept a close eye on.

"I can't believe you caught a Whispering Death!" Fishlegs said in complete astonishment. "I can't wait to study it" he said with excitement nearly bursting out of him. "First things first, we have to get Hiccup to Gothi and have his shoulder checked" Stoick said. "Astrid you take Hiccup on Toothless to her and me and the others will bring this beast back" Stoick said. Yes it was remarkable that they had caught this dragon, but it would have been a surprise if they had and were unscathed.

"Yes Chief" Astrid said and soon she and Hiccup were on Toothless and heading for Berk with a new dragon on its way.


	8. More Than One Enemy

**A/N: Well watched the whole series of Rider of Berk, so all the chapters now take place from the last episode of the series. And sorry if this chapter isn't in as much detail as the others, since it's been a while, so please bare with me. **

"OW! Take it easy" Hiccup said as the healer and village elder Gothi applied the thick liquid to his wound. She just stared at him. "If you don't want to die of a horrible disease we have to apply it roughly so it can take quick effect!" and with that she pressed extremely hard making Hiccup yell in the process.

"How does one get himself into these positions" Hiccup asked himself as Gothi went to get something to wrap his shoulder. "By going after rogue dragons when their father explicitly said not to" she said getting a linen wrap and coming back to him. Again Gothi made sure it was _tightly_ wrapped around Hiccup's shoulder and so that the medicine wouldn't escape.

At that moment Stoick came in and immediately knocked his head on the low doorway of Gothi's home. "For the love of Oden, we should get raise these doorways" he said before looking back at the two and regaining his composure. "How is he Gothi?" he asked as the last time he saw him he had a spike sticking through his shoulder. "Taking the spike out was no problem, it didn't hit anything vital, just the flesh and muscle so nothing too serious, but his would should take at least three weeks to fully heal" she explained leaving Hiccup's side.

She went to her shelves of wonders. There were bottles, small dishes and jars that Loki knew what was inside. No one ever dared touch those jars for no one knew what they did except for Gothi. She came back up with one jar which had a close lid. "You should drink this for about four days to make sure he didn't contract any sickness" she said, giving it to Hiccup.

He opened it and saw a thick, slimy green mixture, enough to make someone throw up for a whole week. He even took a whiff of it…big mistake. He almost threw up then and there. "You want me to drink this!?" he asked quickly closing the lid. "If you don't want to die, yes" she simply replied. Hiccup just sighed and got up to put his shirt on, and get his sword.

"Son I'd like to have a word with you" Stoick said and walked outside. "Oh no" was all that Hiccup said. In the past these talks always meant bad news for him, but he's never had one of these serious talks ever since the war with dragons ended. Hiccup walked outside after making sure he had all his possessions. He was immediately met with the bright midday rays of the sun, warming him up a bit from the long sleep he had after sustaining his injury. He looked for his father and saw him with his arms crossed and a questioning look on his face.

"I know what you're going to say dad" Hiccup said, already prepared. "Oh do you now? Because this is how I see it. A day after coming back you get into a fight with Astrid, you disobey my order to go catch a Whispering Death, you almost got killed, you put Astrid's life in danger as well, and not to mention, you _almost_ killed Astrid with that sword throw, and what else am I leaving out?" he said.

"No, that basically sums everything up" Hiccup said just swinging his arms by his side, in his usual sarcastic tone. He definitely felt bad for putting Astrid in danger and that he could have nearly got killed himself. "It's nice to see some things haven't changed" Stoick said. Hiccup looked up in surprise to see his dad smiling. "So you're not mad?" he asked. "Angry is more like it, since I also had to have a talk with Astrid's parents, who weren't quite pleased to hear that their daughter was almost killed twice in one day and one of those being from her future husband" Stoick said.

Hiccup's breathing stopped as soon as he heard the word _husband_. "What did you just say?" he asked, hoping he heard wrong. "I know you heard me Hiccup, and it's pretty much obvious to me and her parents that you two feel a connection, and I'm just stating the facts" he explained. Boy, the look on Hiccup's face was priceless.

"Dad, aren't I a bit young to be thinking about marriage?" Hiccup asked, since he was 18 after all. "Nonsense, I was your age when I married your mother, so you're that age Hiccup. Soon you'll be coming along with me helping with chief duties" Stoick said. "Oh joy" Hiccup said with fake enthusiasm. It wouldn't be long until Hiccup had to take over for his dad, and that's something he would have trouble with since he likes to have adventures instead of staying on an island and doing the same thing every single day.

"But for now, you're needed at the Academy" his dad said walking away to whatever duty he had. "Why" Hiccup called after him. "So after all that you don't want to see the dragon you caught?" he asked with playful confusion.

At that moment Hiccup bolted to the Academy, and Stoick was just laughing behind him. _Still the same Hiccup underneath his new exterior_ he thought.

_Dragon Academy_

"Can't you get that thing to stop yelling?!" Snotlout asked, irritated as he saw the Whispering Death roar from its cell that was used to hold the dragons.

"We don't know much about that dragon, so it's hard for us to know what will make it mad and…" Fishlegs was interrupted. "Blah blah, just hit with something and make it shut-up" Snotlout yelled. Tuffnut was also among them in the middle of the argument.

Ruffnut and Astrid were in the background just watching them bicker. "So how are thing going with Hiccup?" Ruff asked, trying to stir up a conversation. "At the moment, not so great" she replied. "You know Freiya's Day is in a week right?" Ruff asked. "Yes, and no, I'm not sure who I'm going with" she quickly said.

"Cause right now, you're _currently_ not dating Hiccup, and so many guys would love to go with you, so it makes sense" she explained. "I know Hiccup will try and win me back so I'm waiting to see what he'll do" she said with a devious smile on her face, and that glimmer in her eye.

Ruffnut just smiled at her friend's deviousness. "It looks like I'm rubbing off on you" Ruff said punching her shoulder. "I know I'm worried" Astrid said jokingly.

At that moment Hiccup came in through the gates to see the guys arguing about the noise the dragon was making. "Well it's nice to see that you guys are so nervous about my well-being" he said as he walked past them.

The guys stopped their bickering as Fishlegs left them to talk to Hiccup. "Hiccup, I'm glad to see you're ok. Wouldn't want the person who caught the dragon miss its own checkup would we?" Fishlegs said, trying to be funny. Hiccup just gave his friend a _don't do that again_ smile, while shaking his head.

"So what do we know about this dragon?" Hiccup asked as he came within 10 feet of the iron gates that kept the dragon in its cell. "Well, we know that it has an extremely short temper" Astrid said coming up to them.

The dragon stopped moving about when it saw Hiccup, its pale eyes staring right into Hiccup's green eyes, as if trying to peer into his very soul. Hiccup never broke eye contact with the dragon, but instead was trying to send a message to it through his eyes, something like _It's ok, we're not going to hurt you_. The message didn't seem to work as the dragon tried to straight for him but hit the gate instead.

"This is going to take some work" Hiccup said, as the dragon retreated to the back of the cell, where the shadows were to hide from the midday sun. Just then Hiccup noticed something on the long tail of the dragon. "Wow" he said aloud, catching the other teens' attention.

"What is it?" Astrid asked. "Look at its tail, like near the end of it" Hiccup said pointing to the area and everyone's gaze followed his arm. "Teeth marks?" Fishlegs stated. They saw teeth marks and plus a small chunk of flesh was missing from the tail.

"Yeah, but it's not a Nightfury's bite mark, so this is not the same dragon that Toothless fought" Hiccup said. "Then what bite mark is it?" Fishlegs asked.

Hiccup looked more closely at it, trying to examine every detail of the scar and try to relate it to the teeth of other dragons. "Well it's not a Gronckle's, nor Deadly Nadder, nor a Zippleback, or Monstrous Nightmare" Hiccup stated.

"What about a Changewing?" Astrid asked. "No, not enough teeth in its mouth…or should I say not enough rows in its teeth" he said. Everyone looked at him. "Rows?" Snotlout asked. "Yes rows, I looked more closely and saw there are three rows of scarred skin, so three rows of teeth or even more" he said.

By now the dragon was looking at them, death written clearly in its eyes. "Wait, but there's only one dragon then that could have…" Fishlegs stopped as he realized what dragon it was. "Yep, he was bitten by a Whispering Death" Hiccup finally said. "Looks like Toothless isn't the only enemy that Whispering Death made" Astrid said as she looked at the Whispering Death in front of her.

_This dragon must be searching for the other one, that could only explain why it never really attacked Berk, it was just looking for that other Whispering Death_ Hiccup thought. "So what do we do Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked. Hiccup took a deep breath in and rubbed his injured shoulder, the medicine and the horrible drink seemed to be doing its work. "We're going to train it" he said.


	9. A New Connection

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm really glad at how successful this story is as with the many follows and favourites. I'm really glad that you enjoy it and I hope you guys will continue reading it. But please leave a review if you're done reading a chapter so that I know if I'm doing well or need improvement, or even ideas. Please leave a review and enjoy this chapter. **

Everyone looked at Hiccup with the same thought in their head,_ is he mad?_ "You're joking…please tell me he's joking" Fishlegs said, starting to freak out at the thought of training a wild dragon, a Whispering Death at that.

"Why would I be joking?" Hiccup asked turning around to see the still-stunned faces of his friends. "We're just training another dragon, what's different about that?" he asked, as if the dragon in the cell was another Deadly Nadder. Astrid made a small scowl at him, and soon was right in front of him. For the first time she noticed how much he had grown. She was a few centimetres taller than him before he left, and now he was at two inches taller than her, or more.

"What's different is that that dragon is first off a Whispering Death, and we all know what happened last time when you tried to make friends with one" she remarked, referring back to the time when Hiccup tried to train Toothless' nemesis…which nearly resulted in him being eaten, if it wasn't for Stormfly.

"I know where you're getting at, but think about the possibilities of having a trained Whispering Death? They'll be endless. We'll have a huge enforcer in Berk as well as if any threats were to come up" he said, with that twinkle in his eye looking at the dragon, who just avoided his gaze, staring at the cell wall.

"How about think about the possible outcomes if we get within arm's length of that dragon?" Astrid said. "She's right Hiccup…the last one didn't even want to be close to any of us, you really think this one will?" Fishlegs asked. They all had valid points. What would guarantee that this dragon wouldn't try and kill them. Heck, they captured it, took it from its home, good enough reason if any for the dragon to at least _try_ and kill its captors.

"Look, I know all of you are skeptical, and yes it will be dangerous, but if we can train this dragon, to _be_ on our side, we will one of the most dangerous, powerful dragons there ever were" he lectured. His friends still looked unconvinced. They were just not ready to get near this dragon…even the twins didn't want to go near it, especially the temper it was in right now.

"Fishlegs, we only know that this dragon is Boulder Class and its only weakness is the sun, that's all we know…Imagine what more we can learn. We barely know it, this would be a good chance to write in the Book of Dragons" Hiccup said, trying to convince his friend of his plan.

Fishlegs was so torn apart here. He _wanted_ to know more about this dragon, but his 'fear' of dangerous dragons was telling him not to go anywhere near it. He knew Hiccup was speaking to his weakness, which was new facts about dragons and new dragons as well, and since not much was known about a Whispering Death, that love for knowledge just burned like kindle.

"Curse you for knowing my weakness" Fishlegs muttered under his breath, before giving Hiccup a nod in confirmation that he was willing to go through this idea. "Everyone knows your weakness Fishlegs, it's among any others" Snotlout remarked. "Well I guess I'm in it as well, since all of you will need someone like me in case something goes wrong" he said, once again thinking high of himself. "Ok then Snotlout, why don't you introduce yourself to our new friend?" Tuffnut said gesturing to the cell, where the dragon had turned its attention away from the wall and was focused on them.

Snotlout swallowed hard, "You know what, why don't we let Tuffnut go since he wanted to ride this dragon so badly last time" Snotlout countered his friend's remark. "Guys!" Hiccup called stopping the argument before it got out of hand. "I'll go first, Ruffnut, close the gate, we want to make sure this thing doesn't get loose" he said, and within a minute the main gate was closed. "Ok I want everyone back" he said, and his friends were happy to oblige. Astrid was worried to a certain extent as this dragon was mad mainly at Hiccup because he was the one who captured him after-all. "Be careful Hiccup" Astrid said before joining the others near the target boards. "Come on, it's me" Hiccup said, in an almost serious tone. "Yeah, that's what I'm worried about" Astrid carrying a small grin on her face, showing she had _some_ confidence that he knew what he was doing.

Fishlegs slowly opened the gate of the cell so that Hiccup could walk closer to it. The sun was still up but now the shade went up till the entrance of the cell, so Hiccup was safe as long as he didn't enter the cell. He slowly approached the border of where the shade met the sun, and he walked right up to it. The dragon shifted from its current position, moving closer to the border as well to meet his captor. "It's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you, I just want to get to know you better" he said as he slowly let his right hand raise to meet this dragon's snout.

The dragon immediately shot forward, trying to take his arm off but Hiccup pulled it back just in time. The Whispering Death just growled, letting him know that if he came any closer, he'd take more than his arm off. "This is going to be harder than I thought" he said. "Astrid could you get me an eel?" he asked and Astrid went over to a barrel where they kept the eels, the reason for if there was any unruly dragon, the eel would soften them up.

She came back to him with a large eel in hand and handed it to him, but also stayed with him this time in case he needed any help. Hiccup threw the eel in to see what the dragon's reaction would be. The Whispering Death just stared at it and in one second just ate it like it was a piece of fish. Everyone just stared at the dragon, not believing it just ate an eel. "Weren't dragons supposed to hate eels?" Snotlout asked. "Well right now I think most dragons hate eels except for this kind" Astrid said. This was going to be a problem now.

"Ok so other than the sun, this thing has no weaknesses" Tuffnut stated, to which everyone nodded. "Awesome! Can I have it once we're done training it?" he asked with a toothy smile, followed by a distinct sound of Ruffnut just punching her brother in the face and knocking him down. "Well you can have it now, but theirs is perfect guarantee that it will eat you" she said to her brother. "I think I'll pass" he said rubbing his nose which was red right now.

"Ok, so we know it won't let anyone come near it, and that it doesn't seem to hate eels…what do we do now. It obviously can't be trained" Fishlegs said. Many thoughts were running through Hiccup's mind now. They could try and dragon nip but the last time it didn't work. You couldn't force this dragon into submission. "Guys, I honestly don't know what to do" he finally said. "Well the great and mighty Hiccup doesn't know what to do! This is a wonderful moment for us a…AH!" Snotlout started but was stopped when Astrid kicked him in the stomach and elbowed him in the back to the ground. "Don't worry Hiccup, we'll find a way" she said placing a hand on his shoulder.

All of a sudden the dragon tensed up and seemed to be focused on something. It came forward but stopped when it reached the border of the shade and the sunlight. Everyone looked behind them to see Ripper near the arena entrance and when they turned back to the dragon it had its mouth opened but wasn't roaring or doing anything.

"Anyone wanna throw something in there?" Tuff asked but was ignored by everyone. Hiccup ran over to the gate to let Ripper in. "Hey Hiccup, nice to see the new dragon" he said walking in. "Looks pretty good, big, strong…boy could we do some damage with him" he continued. "He sure is Rip, but what were you doing?" he asked, curious as to why the dragon was focused on him, and now had its mouth closed.

"Oh that…I was calling him" he simply answered walking closer to the cell where the dragon was, who was still focused intently on him. The others stared at him as he walked and then back to Hiccup. "Calling him?" Astrid asked, making sure she heard him right. "Yes, I was calling him, you know…like how you guys do your dragon calls" he said as he stopped in front of a dragon. "So that's why he was staring at you, because you were calling him" Hiccup said. "That must also explain why the dragon had its mouth open as well" Astrid finished off. "But why didn't we hear anything?" Fishlegs asked. "Yeah, most of our dragons have loud calls" Snotlout said.

"And this dragon roared when we entered its home" Astrid said. _That was such a stupid move_ Hiccup thought, invading the home of a Whispering Death. "Yeah well, I guess it was angry since you did trespass on its territory" Ripper said. "Yeah, only realized that when he shot a spike through my shoulder" Hiccup said rubbing his injury.

"But what were you doing?" Hiccup asked curiosity thick in his voice. "Well it was more of a hunch I just tried but it seemed to work" Ripper said, still not mentioning what he was doing. That was it. "For the love Odin, WHAT WERE YOU DOING?!" Hiccup yelled. Everyone stared at him because of his sudden outburst and Ripper just laughed that he annoyed Hiccup. "I really like how I'm the one who can really annoy Hiccup here" he said, and Hiccup just rubbed his forehead. _I really hate him sometimes_ he thought.

"Well, if you must know, I was doing this" he said, as he proceeded to open his mouth and instead of a roar, it seemed like some cross of a whisper and a shout, but it was really quiet and the teens had to come close to hear it properly. They also noticed the Whispering Death came closer but with a more curious approach than a threatening one.

"You're whispering?" Hiccup asked, the first of them to say anything. "Well, it's more of a 'shout' whisper" Rip said the word shout between air quotes. "Do you know what you're saying?" Fishlegs asked, seeing that the dragon was paying attention to Ripper's actions. "No idea. It just seems that I'm able to communicate with it" he said, and everyone was stunned that it was a _shout_ whisper that enabled a person to get a Death's attention.

"Why the heck is it a whisper to talk to that dragon?" Snotlout asked. "Well maybe because it has _Whispering_ in its name, so I'm just guessing" Ripper remarked shutting him up. To everyone's surprise he lifted his hand and kept his palm open, to see if the dragon would accept him. "What are you doing?!" Hiccup asked his friend, who's hand was now inches away from the dragon. "I'm trying to invite for mead" Ripper replied sarcastically. "You know, I think we brushed off too much on each other" Hiccup said, seeing that Ripper gave more sarcastic answers.

They then all heard a low growl and saw the dragon had connected its snout to Ripper's hand. They all stared wide-eyed. An hour ago this dragon was trying to kill them and made it clear, and now that _one_ of them 'apparently' talked to the dragon, it felt like it could trust them…to a certain extent anyway. The teens watched on as the Whispering Death made itself comfortable with Ripper. Never in a million years did they have thought to see a Whispering Death, one of the most fearsome, dangerous dragons there ever were, behaving like a puppy…other than Toothless, but he at least looked like a puppy…a big, scaly, fire-breathing puppy.

"It looks like you finally have a dragon" Hiccup stated seeing how Ripper enjoyed being close to this big dragon. "Ah…I think it chose me, but yeah, it looks like I'm gonna be his rider from now on" he said as he turned around. "No fair! I wanted to have him!" Tuffnut yelled. Ruffnut just rolled her eyes and punched her brother in the stomach. "Sorry troll-face, now you have already have a dragon" she said, referring to their Zippleback.

"That reminds me, Hiccup I need to talk to you" Ripper said leaving his new dragon and walking with Hiccup out of the arena. "Have you thought about Freiya's Day yet?" he asked. Hiccup stopped and slapped his forehead, _he forgot_. That's all Ripper needed to see. "Well you know you have five days left, so I'd suggest that you and Astrid start work as soon as possible" he said. "But I can't, I mean we have a new dragon, and I need to be there to help…" "Hiccup, I know you're in charge now, but I will train that dragon and Fishlegs will take down any necessary notes ok?" Ripper said, making sure his friend stuck to his responsibilities.

Hiccup sighed knowing he was right. "Ok, I'll get to work to soon with her" he said._ This should be fun_ he thought, knowing he'd get to work with Astrid, even though she's brutally testing him and he knew it.

_Outcast Island_

"Out of my way!" Savage shouted as pushed his way through the soldiers on his way to see Alvin. He had important news to deliver to him, and it wasn't wise to keep Alvin waiting. Usually someone else brought Alvin the news. That's why you can't ever be late with him. He arrived at a huge cliff which had a door to it. He stopped running and regained his composure before entering. Alvin's room was a sight to behold. There were dragon heads that were hung on both sides of the cliff. A huge fireplace, but other than the decorated furniture, there were weapons that adorned the walls as well and over on the far side of the room, a Whispering Death was looking at him with its master talking to an old man.

"Ah Savage, so glad you could join us" Alvin smiled as he turned to see his second in command. "Alvin, I have important news for you" he said. "Well why else would you be here, spit it out" Alvin spat, getting impatient. "Uh…well. We have information that the Dragon Conqueror has returned" he said.

"The boy's come back?" he asked, to which Savage nodded. "Oh happy day, I can finally attack Berk at last" Alvin said, an evil grin on his face as he went back to Mildew. "Why haven't you attacked Berk in the past year?" he asked. "Looks like your age is getting to you Mildew, don't you remember all the dragons we trained and all the _villages_ we destroyed?" he asked, a glimmer of destruction in his eyes.

"Of course I remember that, but why haven't ye' attacked Berk yet. Why wait all this long when Berk was defenseless? Why wait till the boy came back?" he asked. He did have a point. Hiccup was the main reason why both their plans had failed in the past. Without him, Berk would have been sure to have trouble if they attacked.

"Mildew, you don't see the big picture don't you? I want him to be there. To _watch_ as I take everything he holds dear. To see the pain on his face. That is why I've waited till he came back, and that he is, we can make him suffer. Besides, they think you're still a victim, and they don't know that we have a dragon army. Surprise is on our side this time" Alvin said walking up to his dragon. He rubbed his dragon's snout. It had been a while since that day after he trained it fully, and now one of the most dangerous Vikings was riding one of the most dangerous dragons.

"They boy won't stand a chance" he said with an evil grin, and started to prepare plans of invading Berk to kill the Dragon Conqueror.


	10. Survival

The sound of running footsteps, cargo being hauled, oars being set into place and the distinct sound of roars of Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders, Zipplebacks filled the air on the shores of Outcast Island. It had been two days since Savage had brought news of Hiccup's return to Berk, news that Alvin had been waiting for over one year to hear. Now he saw his chance to exact his revenge on the boy who denied him his victory over Berk so many times.

Hundreds of Terrible Terrors were being loaded into large crates, all of them purposely starved of any food for the past three weeks. The Outcasts learned that there's nothing more dangerous than a hungry dragon, especially hundreds of them that are fast, small and difficult to hit…not that the residents of Berk will kill the beasts at first. Alvin learned of this new method the hard way when he saw ten of his men get ripped in the ring when they unleashed three hungry Nightmares for them to train. Instead of feeling remorse though, all he saw was potential with the new weapon he discovered.

"Are those dragons ready to go yet?" he asked, getting impatient with the progress. "Almost sir, just need to load the last few cages" Savage said as he oversaw the final stages of the loadings. Alvin smiled contently at the sight before him. Ten ships, each had a cage that had over one hundred Terrors in them, hungry and ready to tear anything apart. Some dragons were also on the ships, as well as catapults at the ready and over a hundred Outcast warriors ready to spill blood.

"Berk won't know what hit'em" Alvin said with a toothy grin. "And may I ask what your plan of attack is again?" he heard the old man ask behind him. "For the love Loki Mildew, are you losing your memory…bet it has to do with the age" he chuckled seeing no change of expression on Mildew's face.

"Alright, listen up this time, we launch a ground assault on Berk, our ships will dock and we'll let loose the Terrors upon them and our men will start the attack. Right after we start the ground assault then we'll attack from the air with our new _weapons_ and they'll have their hands full with that and we can kill every single one of them. Understand?" he asked the old man.

"What about the boy and his group of friends?" he questioned. "Oh, we capture them one by one and leave Hiccup the last one so he'll be forced to surrender and we execute him first in front of everyone. Stoick will see his son's head fall off its shoulders and roll down right to him, seeing that his future will have ended with his son's death. And after that boy, we can execute everyone else one by one, and maybe I can take his girlfriend for myself" Alvin finished, and Mildew had a satisfied smile plastered on his face. Finally he could get his revenge on that boy and the whole tribe for putting their trust in such…_beasts_.

"Sir! The last ships have been loaded, and the dragons and men are ready!" Savage reported in. Alvin smiled and turned towards his dragon, Dagger whom he most proudly called it. He hopped on to the large dragon and with one flap of its wings was in the air and Alvin was looking down on his men.

"Well boys, today is the day we show Berk what their fiercest nightmares are. Today we take Berk and soon the Archipelagos will fall under us!" he screamed and his men cheered with excitement. "Now onward!" he said and he flew in the direction for Berk, followed by many other dragons and his ships below.

* * *

_Knock...Knock...Knock_

Hiccup was outside the Hofferson house now, waiting for someone to open the door. Ripper reminded him that Freiya's Day was only in five days time and that he and Astrid had to get to work on how to involve the dragons in this month's festival. And that was the reason he was here, to ask or more like _beg_ Astrid to help him with the preparations.

He heard the door creak open and was thankful that Astrid wasn't at the door, but her mother was...which could be worse right? Hiccup straightened himself up and cleared his throat, "Afternoon Mrs. Hofferson" he said in a strong voice, though it still had his minor Hiccup features.

What happened next couldn't have prepared Hiccup, he was swooped into a breathless hug by Ingrid. "Oh Hiccup it's nice to see you again! My how you have grown!" she said, squeezing him so ever harder. Astrid heard the commotion downstairs and as she made her way to the bottom of the stairs, the sight before her was...speechless. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh.

Hiccup saw her in the back and mouthed _"Help me"_ and only then she realized that her mom had him in one of her fatal death grips. "Mom you're choking him!" she said as she came up to them, concerned for Hiccup. "Oh dear" she said and let go of Hiccup who immediately grasped his chest and took long breaths of Odin's sweet air. "I'm so sorry Hiccup, perhaps I was overly excited to see you" she said checking up on him. "Well you're the first one to be" he said with a laugh and both ladies were glad to see that he was ok. "Please come in" Ingrid offered and Astrid led him into the main living area.

The house was just like every other home of Berk. It had a cosy living area with bear fur on the floor in front of the fireplace and the family heirloom, which was a sword that seemed to glow, adorned the top of the fireplace. Hiccup hardly came to the home so it looked new every time he came in.

"Please sit. I would love to hear about your travels and training" Ingrid said as Hiccup sat down on what was a couch with Astrid sitting next to him. "Well...I would love to tell you about it, but...I came here to work with Astrid for Frieya's Day" he explained, hoping she wouldn't mind it.

"Actually Hiccup, I would love to hear about your travels, we can get to work later" Astrid said as she leaned back and crossed her arms. Hiccup looked back her mother who was looking at Astrid then turned her attention back to Hiccup. "Oh yes! Where were my manners? Hiccup dear, would you like something to drink?" she asked getting up and making her way towards the kitchen. "Uh no thank you Mrs. Hofferson, I'm fine" Hiccup said and nodded his head again when Ingrid asked him if he was sure.

She anyway went into the kitchen saying she'll get something for them to eat while he was telling his story, and leaving the two of them in awkward silence. "So you need my help with Frieya's Day huh?" Astrid asked, breaking the silence. "Uh yeah, since my dad said that he assigned both us to work on it...I figured we should get started" he said. Astrid looked in the direction her mom left and since she heard noises of pots clanging and seeing a fire starting, she figured her mom would be a while.

"Well until mom gets back, I guess we can discuss about what we should do about the dragons. Any ideas?" she asked. Hiccup scratched his head trying to come up with something fast. Frieya's Day was in only five days so they should get started. "Well...we could get the dragons to possibly perform a show, like them flying over the village and doing certain maneuvers that could wow them" Hiccup said. Astrid let the idea settle in and started to see that the village, especially the children would be thrilled to see the dragons do an 'airshow' if you would call it. "That sounds like a good idea Hiccup, we should totally do that. Maybe we could involve some games as well with the dragon" Astrid suggested. Hiccup nodded in response, "Yeah, games sound like an excellent idea" he said. Pretty soon the ideas started to flow in. They had to cancel the ones that could result in some damages, even though they could be more fun.

"Well I guess we're settling with the airshow, as we're calling it, the games and rides for kids on our dragons" Hiccup said. "Yep I guess we have to start training the dragons for the airshow" Astrid said and that moment, her mom walked in with some baked buns she just made and set them on the table. "In case we get hungry while our guest is saying his story" she said and sat back across from Astrid and Hiccup. "So Hiccup, please tell us one of your stories" she said and he looked over to Astrid to see her smiling and encouraging him to tell one.

"Well I guess I can start with the survival story. Gods was that tough" he said wiping his forehead with the back of his palm. "Well it all started...

* * *

The city doors opened and beyond laid a forest with bears, wild dragons, and tough terrain that Hiccup would have to navigate to survive five days...while being _hunted_. Hiccup looked to make sure he had everything. It was just the first month into his training and it was all based on survival and today was his big test. He had his sword that he had forged himself, a bow slinged on his back with ten arrows and a hunting knife.

"Ready?" he heard Ripper say and turned around to see his now best friend standing behind him with some of his mentors behind him as well. "Do I have a choice?" Hiccup just weakly asked and turned back front. "I barely survived with Toothless in those practice situations, how do you think I'll do on my own?" he asked. There was a lot of negativity in his voice since he was supposed to accomplish something he would never stand a chance of.

"Look Hiccup, this is for your own good. What if you're without Toothless behind enemy lines and..." "...I know this Ripper, you told me a thousand times already" Hiccup said, interrupting his friend. "Look, you've improved a lot over the past month and this is just to test that. And you're going up against the best Hiccup...me" Ripper said with a smile. "That makes me feel so much more comfortable" Hiccup said with the usual sarcasm in his voice. "I'll give you a four hour head start, now go" Ripper said and stepped back a few paces. Hiccup started running...running like mad. He had to survive for five days in the wilderness which meant not getting caught by Ripper. "This is going to be good" he said as he disappeared out of sight of Ripper.

_Night Time - Day One_

Hiccup saw something that reminded him of home. The night sky filled with stars that shone brightly and looked the same from the place he looked at them back on Berk. But he didn't have the luxury from enjoying the sight from the ground. He was about twenty five feet up in the air, more of perched on a tree branch and resting against the trunk of the tree.

Being on the ground made him more of a vulnerable target since he didn't know if Ripper would continue searching for him in the night or take a rest like he was at the moment. He already had his dinner, caught a few trout from a nearby river and ate it by the shore so he wouldn't have had to build a fire that would definitely help Ripper track him faster.

Climbing up the tree was no easy task, took about an hour or so for him to come up with an easier way. In the end he got two sharp rocks, fixed them to two pieces of branches and started scaling the tree to a suitable lookout and safe point. Nothing eventful had happened that day, just continuous running from a person that was hunting him, everyday stuff for a chief in training.

Hiccup opened his pocket book, something he always kept close to him. It was the last gift his mother gave him before she died and it meant the world to him. He opened it and started flipping through the pages of personal phrases and images he drew. He stopped at one that warmed his heart..._Astrid_. It's been a month since he left and wondered everyday of how she was doing. _Soon_ he thought. _Soon I'll be back home_ he said to himself and closed his eyes to get a night's sleep.

_Day Four - Evening_

"How did I end up here?" Hiccup asked himself. How had this task gone so wrong? For the past six hours he was at the bottom of a ravine, with a sprained elbow, partially broken wrist and he had a nasty cut on his right arm, which was bandaged up with a part of his shirt to slow the bleeding. Ten feet from him was the body of Monstrous Nightmare, with stab marks in its chest and Hiccup was holding his sword which was covered in the dragons blood.

"I can't believe I killed a dragon" he said for the tenth time. His hands were still shaking with the sword in hold, and as soon as he realized it, he threw the sword as far from as he could. He looked back at the dragon, its eyes were still open and the life drained out of it...a life _he_ took...a dragon's more or less.

He had run into this dragon by accident. He tried to calm it down but it just had the intent of killing him. It didn't heed to any of his calm gestures and just attacked. "It was in self-defence...it was" he repeated, still shaken by the fact he killed a dragon. But he had to focus on more important matters...one which is how to get out of this ravine.

He tried to get up but with his sprained elbow and badly cut arm, he wouldn't be going anywhere. He had to do something, he couldn't just be there helpless, heck, he had been helpless for most of his life. This whole trip was a chance to change that, and sometimes, a person always needed help. "He-Help" he moaned out hoping there was someone close by to hear him. He waited, he didn't know how long, but he moaned again..."Help" he said again. But he was blacking out and within a few minutes he slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

_Day Five - Atlaka_

"Wakey wakey princess" a voice said. Hiccup groaned in response and shifted in his bed, but soon a pain shot through his arm and he opened his eyes and slowly got up. Whenhe rubbed the tiredness from his eyes he saw that he was in the infirmary of the city and saw Ripper sitting on a chair beside his bed. "How you doing?" he asked seeing his friend awake.

"I think Thor hit me on the head cause I have a major headache" Hiccup said rubbing his head. Ripper let out a chuckle, "Yeah, doc said that was a side effect of the herbs he gave you to prevent any disease from the scratch from that Nightmare" he said. Hiccup froze when Ripper mentioned the Nightmare and he looked at him. Ripper leaned forward, "What in Thor's beard happened?" he asked.

"The dragon attacked me...I tried to calm it down but nothing worked and we fell into the ravine...and...I had no choice" Hiccup was almost at tears when he repeated the story. "Hey man don't worry, you had no choice, it was in self-defence and you know it. But you were lucky I found you, I had been on your trail for sometime and it was only a matter of time until caught you, and then I came upon the fight scene and followed the path to find you unconscious and I brought you back" Ripper explained.

"Well I failed didn't I?" Hiccup asked, referring back to the task of survival. "On the contrary, you passed, you survived and no chief ever before you has been in a position like you have been and as a result you have passed" Ripper said with a small smile, knowing it was not the way Hiccup was expecting to pass.

Hiccup lied back down on the bed, and with a sigh asked, "What's next?". "Well we're travelling to a village near the mountains for more training. We'll be leaving in five days time, so you'll have plenty of rest, which reminds me, I'll be leaving you now so you can get your rest. See yah soon buddy" Ripper said and got up and walked towards the door leaving Hiccup to get a good rest.

* * *

"I can't believe you had to do that" Astrid said as Hiccup finished his story. "Well I still blame myself for not doing more but Ripper keeps telling me I had no choice" he said as he looked down to his feet. Astrid felt sorry for him. A person like Hiccup would never be able to kill something he loved and for him to do that must have hurt. Astrid placed her hand on his lap and lifted his face with other and gave an encouraging smile.

"You have been through a lot Hiccup" Ingrid said seeing her friend's son in distress. "You really are ready to be chief" she continued. "And perfect age for marriage as well" she said with a smirk to which Astrid and Hiccup both blushed profoundly. "I guess..." Hiccup was interrupted when they heard a horn blow outside, the battle horn. Soon Aaron barged in and he was gasping for breath. "What's wrong?" Ingrid asked quickly getting up as well as Astrid and Hiccup.

"The Outcasts are attacking" her husband said.


	11. The New Recruit

**A/N: Hey guys, here's another chapter and hope you've been enjoying the story so far. Sorry for the not so recent updates. Anyway hope you guys are enjoying your summer vacation! Sorry about the wrong chapter!**

When Hiccup, Astrid and her parents came out, all they saw was chaos. Berkians were running about trying to gather their weapons, mothers were sweeping their children up and heading to the Great Hall. They heard the roars of dragons in the night sky and looked to see some of their dragons already in the air trying to hold back the Outcasts who were right now coming ashore from the docks. Four ships had already docked and because it was night, and from where they were, they couldn't tell if there were more on the way. But one thing was for sure...they had to jump in there.

"I gotta get to Toothless" Hiccup realized. But before he could set off , Thornado landed near them with Stoick getting off. "Aaron, what's the situation?" he asked his second lieutenant. "Four outcast ships have docked, we don't know if they're more and..." he was interrupted when they all heard shouts and screams. They saw men falling down and being swarmed by Terrors...and these Terrors looked hungry. "Hiccup get to Toothless, now, the twins, Fishlegs and Snotlout are already in the fight, we need our two best riders" Stoick said hopping back on Thornado and taking off.

"Come on Hiccup, I'll take you to Toothless" Astrid said as she ran to the barn behind her house, where she kept Stormfly. Hiccup followed in close pursuit. Stormfly was well aware of the danger that the village was in from all the commotion. Astrid quickly mounted her and helped Hiccup on her. Getting to his house to Toothless was the main priority here...if Toothless was in the air, it could turn the tide of the battle.

They reached the chief's house in no time and when Hiccup opened the door, he was tackled by a great mass of black. "It's good to see you too buddy, now let me up" Hiccup said as Toothless was covering him his licks. Toothless got off his rider and soon Hiccup was in the air with Astrid flying over the docks. They saw that all the Outcasts had disembarked and were moving up. They also saw cages on the decks saw that a few Terrors were still leaving the ship. "They must have starved them" Hiccup said as he saw the Terrors try to take down anything that was moving, even some of the Outcasts, who killed them if they tried.

They flew a quick run over the docks and saw six more ships on the way. "Where are the others?" he asked and just on cue, they saw a cloud of green smoke cover two ships, and soon a enough an explosion that surely killed any living creature on the ships, shadowed by three flying silhouettes.

"Took you guys long enough" Snotlout said as he, the twins and Fishlegs joined them in flying V formation. "What's the status of our defenses?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, dock catapults have been destroyed, our riders are just getting into the air and we still have to contain the Terrors that are causing trouble on the ground...so our situation, not so good" Fishlegs briefed them. Hiccup glanced down once more. The Outcasts were advancing more by the second, closing in on the Great Hall. He already saw a few bodies of Outcasts and Berkians in their wake. He then looked back at the docks, only to see the four other ships were within feet of docking and letting loose more Outcasts and Terrors.

"We have to take down those ships now! Before they can reinforce the main unit" Hiccup said and took Toothless into a dive straight for one of the ships. "Remember bud, like we practised" he said to his dragon who nodded and got ready. Hiccup flew Toothless right on top of the water, just a few inches above the surface. Approaching the ships, Toothless turned sideways, his underside facing the side of the ship, and he let loose a continuous plasma blast that tore through the hull and came out of the other side of the ship, completely cutting the ship in half and leaving it to sink

Hiccup pulled Toothless back up into safer skies, "Good job bud, can't believe that actually worked" he said to which Toothless grumbled happily. Hiccup watched the others take down the three remaining ships, all with burning decks as well as burning Outcasts going down with the ships.

"Alright guys, lets go help the others" he said and all of them flew down to the village. When they got there, the situation was much worse than they anticipated. The remaining Outcasts, of which there were probably fifty or more, were almost at the Great Hall where the elderly, women and children were. Most of the men were about one hundred feet in front of the Hall defending it.

Hiccup saw Gobber and his dad among the men, cutting down any Outcast that got near them. Thornado was also there, grabbing Outcasts, flying high and dropping them or blowing them far from the island.

"Dad!" Stoick looked up to see his son and the other teens swoop down and join the fight. They all got off their dragons and got their swords and axes at the ready for the next wave. "The docks are cleared, so I'm guessing these clowns are the only ones left?" Hiccup asked joining his dad. "Aye, now com' on and les' cut down the rest of 'em" he said and they all charged to meet the Outcasts.

The sound of iron hitting iron, blood curdling screams...more specifically Outcast screams...echoed throughout the village. Gobber and Fishlegs worked together with Meatlug on a group of five Outcasts. Gobber took down one of them by severing half of the man's neck, with blood spilling everywhere, and the Outcast falling to the ground, dead.

Fishlegs was backing up against a house, being cornered by two Outcasts, swords at the ready. He did have a sword with him but right now, he was too scared to use it. His breathing had quadrupled and each step they took closer, the more scared he became. But soon He saw both of them get hit with a bright hot red glowing mass and went flying along with it. When he looked to his right he saw Meatlug smiling at him. "Fishlegs! You have to use that weapon and kill them!" Gobber yelled as he took the two remaining Outcasts with ease.

"But...but..." Fishlegs stammered and Gobber saw the look of fear in his eyes. The fear of taking another life. Gobber lightened his expression and walked up to the young man, and took the sword out of his hands. "I know its tough lad, but ye' hav to know, there com's a time in a Vikin's life that he'll have to do something he doesn't want to" was all he said and put the sword back in Fishleg's hands. "Now com' on, let's warm out the rest of their welcome" Gobber said and went off to provide support for Stoick.

The twins seemed to love the violence and mayhem. Because they were so lively and agile, they easily dodged the Outcasts wild attacks and they even toyed with them. Their dragon did the rest, by grabbing the enemy and throwing them far away from the village, mostly in the direction of the sea. Snotlout and Hookfang were working together...just barely...to fight the Outcasts. Every time he gave an order, Hookfang did the exact opposite which always angered Snotlout, even though Hookfang got rid of more Outcasts when he disobeyed his rider.

Stoick and Thornado were making minced yak of the enemy. The wild slashes from the Outcasts could not even touch Stoick. With all his experience in the past...mostly from fighting dragons...cutting his way through the Outcasts was like a walk in the forest for him. Their lack of skill, and all in all their failure to interpret their enemy's next move left them easy marks. All they had was their size and sheer brutality which in this case was not enough. Every time Stoick was busy with a few Outcasts, Thornado would always have his back.

Hiccup and Astrid had each other's backs in the fight. Hiccup saw Astrid had lost any of her skill at all during the time he was gone. In fact they seemed to have been enhanced. She was so agile, quick, and her fiery spirit made her a _dangerous_ and _deadly_ fighter. She cut down any Outcast in her path, using her size against them. Being small does it have its perks. She was quicker to flank them, dodge their attacks and take them out. Stormfly was close by, cleaning up after her rider by impaling the Outcasts with her spikes or knocking them away.

After Astrid had taken her half of the Outcasts down she looked to her side to see Hiccup, and she saw amazed her. He was moving so quick...even quicker than her. There were two Outcasts coming towards him. He ran towards them, and she swore she saw a smile on his face. He dodged the first one and a second later brought his sword at the Outcast's neck, making a clean cut and not stopping his charge on the second Outcast who was dumbfounded on how this twig took down his friend, he had no time to react to the sword going right through his heart. He pulled it out as soon as he knew the Outcast was dead and looked to see everyone staring at him in shock.

"What?" he asked. Clearly they were all surprised to see Hiccup's skills. "Son...you have..." Stoick could not finish his sentence because there were literally no words to describe his reaction. "How did ye..." Gobber started but was also in the same boat as Stoick on this one. "Yes, yes guys, I have changed..._a lot..._as Ripper would say. By the way, where is Ripper?" he asked, not seeing his close friend. He relishes defending Berk in a fight, and since this was an invasion, he expected him to be right at the front.

"I sent him to protect the Academy, ye' know, since our new guest is staying there" Stoick informed. "Well all the Outcasts are down" Astrid said with her axe over her shoulder. "Yeah, but where's Alvin?" Hiccup asked. "He would normally be leading the attack force" he said.

"Well that's cause I am" they heard an all too familiar voice. They looked up to their left to see a Whispering Death and a huge man on its head. "Alvin" Hiccup said the name with a bitter tone. Everyone could not believe the sight. Alvin had actually managed to train a dragon, a Whispering Death at that.

"My how have you grown boy. Tell me, what was it like all that time away from home" Alvin said stroking his beard in a wondering manner. "Torture" Hiccup blatantly stated. "Was it now...well...the you're gonna hate this" he said with a dark expression, and before they even knew it, all their dragons were being capture in large nets that were being dropped from the sky. When the group looked up they saw more dragons flying around, and some were carrying more nets, dropping it on their dragons to make sure the couldn't escape.

The dragons surrounded them, any sudden movement and they'd be roasted alive. Hiccup looked back at Alvin to see the smug look on his face. "How did you learn to control the dragons?" he asked. "You showed me boy, and I have to thank ye'" he said. Everyone looked at Hiccup. "You told him!?" Snotlout yelled. "What? No! I never told him anything. The only person I ever showed was..." he stopped in his sentence as soon as I realized it. He looked back Alvin.

"So Alvin, enough about me, tell me about Mildew. How long do you plan on keeping him alive?" he asked. "Mildew?!" he heard his friends say in the back. "You shouldn't be worryin' about the man who betrayed your tribe, more like what I'm going to do to you. Take them to the arena!" Alvin said as he flew off to the exact location. Some of the Outcasts got off their dragons and came up to the group to start binding their hands, and soon they were being led to what most likely be their deaths.

"Hiccup, what are we going to do?" Astrid whispered as they neared the arena. "I'm thinking, but I don't have any ideas yet" he whispered back. "Well we have to think faster, cause we're here" she said. The men led them to the centre of the arena where Alvin was waiting, looking at an array of swords that were placed in front of him, and his dragon close by, watching the prisoners.

"Where are our dragons?" Astrid asked. "Oh don't worry, they'll meet the same fate as you soon" he said without turning his back. "So what do you plan to do with us Alvin?" Hiccup asked. As soon as he said that a man came up and started removing his bindings and pushed him forward while the other men took the group to the sidelines of the arena. Hiccup looked back at Alvin to see him holding a sword that had to be four to five feet long.

"You've been a burden for me ever since we met boy, and I am tired we your meddling. It's because of you, that this miserable rock still stands and once I cut you down, nobody will stand in my way" he said as he got in a fighting stance. Hiccup looked around the arena. The whole group had worried looks for their friend and family member. _"They're near the entrance...what about the cell?"_ Hiccup thought and when he looked where the cell was, it was pitch black inside. He couldn't tell if the Whispering Death was still in there or not.

When he looked back at Alvin he was ready to charge. "Wait, I don't get a weapon. That's really brave Alvin, killing an unarmed man?" Hiccup said. Alvin thought about it for a while before he pulled out a small dagger and threw it to Hiccup, who as soon as he caught it, looked to see a huge Viking running at him with the full intent on killing him.

He barely dodged the first strike, the tip of the sword just inches away from his face. "There's no way you can beat me boy!" he said as he swung at Hiccup with his other arm, connecting his fist to his face. Hiccup flew a few feet before landing hard on the ground. The others looked on helplessly as their friend was fighting a boulder. Stoick was never so worried in his life, and as a father to watch your son trying to be killed is something no parent should face. Astrid was also scared, her eyes watching his movements closely, silently telling him what to do and how to counter, _hoping_ that was what he did, from his training.

Hiccup looked up to see Alvin about to bring his sword down on him, but he quickly rolled out of the way and the sword left a sharp cut in the stone floor. "I'm going to cut your head right off in front of your friends" he said and attempted another swipe. _"He's faster than I anticipated"_ Hiccup thought. When Alvin raised the sword for another attack, Hiccup saw this as his chance and quickly threw the dagger into Alvin's calf muscle. Alvin yelled in pain as his sword dropped out of his hand and he clutched his leg, and Hiccup gave one vicious right hook to his jaw.

The group cheered for Hiccup seeing that he was winning now. Seeing that his leader was in trouble, Savage, who was on the walk path on top of the arena, fired an arrow right into Hiccup's leg. The attack caught Hiccup by surprise and he fell down on one knee holding his leg. "Hey! That's not fair!" Astrid yelled and tried to rush in, as well as some of the others but were held back. The could only watch on as Alvin pulled the knife out of his leg and walk up to Hiccup who was still on the ground.

The arrow had gone right through his leg which meant he couldn't pull it out now. When he looked up Alvin grabbed him at the neck and held him up. "And when I'm done with you, I'm going to kill every single one here...starting with your girl" he said and threw Hiccup right into the iron doors of the cell. "Hiccup!" Stoick yelled. "You coward! Face me!" he yelled to Alvin. "In due time Stoick" he said getting onto his dragon and moving to where Hiccup lay.

As Hiccup lay there, with an arrow in his leg and surely a few broken bones, he heard something behind him, coming from inside the cell. He saw Alvin on his dragon right in front of him, ready to finish him off. "Well boy, any last words" he asked.

"Yeah, he wants you to meet his friend" a voice said. When he looked up he saw Ripper standing on the walkway that was above the cell. "And who are you?" Alvin asked. "Better make it quick boy, my dragon's getting restless" he said and it was evident since Dagger was trying to kill Hiccup by trying to lunge forward but Alvin held him back.

"I'm Hiccup's best friend and a new member to the Academy" he said. Alvin let out an amused laugh. "And what dragon do you have?" he asked. That's when Hiccup and Ripper both smiled. "This one" Ripper said softly and pulled the lever that opened the cell. Alvin looked into the cell, albeit no one could see anything because for one it was night and two, you couldn't see anything in the shadows of the cell, which became as black as night _in_ the night. And Alvin got the shock of his life.

The Whispering Death burst out of its cell and had its head above Hiccup, but staring intently at Alvin, or Alvin's _dragon_.

Hiccup saw Dagger pull back as a surprise. He could tell by the Dagger's behaviour that he was _scared_ of the Whispering Death that was hovering above him in a protective manner. Hiccup smiled seeing the shocked expression on Alvin. "When did you get a Whispering Death?!" he shouted. "We captured one...turns out...this one was hunting for a dragon" Hiccup managed to say through the pain he was in.

"Which dragon?" Alvin asked, oblivious to the fact that the dragon in front of him was staring at Dagger. "Your one" Ripper asked. The look on Alvin's face became one of pure horror and when he looked back in front of him, the Whispering Death lunged for Dagger. Alvin was thrown off his dragon as it was hit by the Ripper's dragon.

During the commotion, Gobber, Stoick, Astrid, and the others attacked their captors. Stoick was able to get out of his bindings and started to free the others. "Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuff, get to the dragons!" Stoick yelled and with a quick nod the three teens were off in search. Astrid grabbed a sword off an Outcast's body and ran to check up on Hiccup.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she quickly knelt besides him. "Why do I always have something going through me...first it was the shoulder now it's my leg" he said. Astrid just smiled. Even in the midst of an injury, he still could be his normal, _Hiccup_ self. Stoick, Gobber and Snotlout were finishing off the few remaining Outcasts, but were suddenly interrupted when a Whispering Death was thrown in front of them...luckily hitting the Outcasts they were about to slaughter.

They looked to see their Whispering Death, which they could tell since Ripper, who had come down now, was standing beside it. Alvin recovered from his fall and saw his dragon on the ground, still alive but had submitted to the other Whispering Death. "It's over Alvin" Hiccup said getting up with Astrid's help.

Alvin let out a loud shout of anger. Again he had been defeated...when he was _so_ close to getting his revenge. "Oh it's far from over Hiccup, it's just the beginning!" he said getting on Dagger and flying away.

"Told you it was a good idea to keep this dragon" Ripper said. "Yeah" Hiccup responded, knowing he made that decision. "Come on, we have got to get you to Gothi" Astrid said. The arrow in Hiccup's leg had to be removed since now it was starting to bleed really badly. "Come on son" Stoick said lifting him up and the group, followed by their new recruit, went to the healer's...again.


	12. A New Start

**A/N: Hey guys, here's another chapter, and just to MENTION, the image of Hiccup and the others in this story is like what the trailer was, how much they've matured. I DON'T OWN HTTYD. By the way, you can see on Google the images, and I must say they look awesome. They only show Astrid and Hiccup but that's what they look like in this story.**

"Hiccup" someone called out. Hiccup slowly opened his eyes, the early light of the morning peaking through the window was enough to make him squint his eyes. When he managed to regain most of his vision, he saw that he was back in the healers, except this time he had a burning pain in his leg. "Hiccup you're awake" he heard and when he turned to his left he was immediately grasped in a hug. "That...hurts Astrid" he managed to squeeze out when he saw the person had golden locks tied into a pony tail.

"Oops...sorry" she said before quickly letting him go. "I would punch you right now, but I don't want you to get more hurt as you are" she said. Hiccup just smiled and looked to see that his shoulder bandages had been replaced and when he looked under his sheets, he saw that the arrow he had, had been taken out and his whole calf was bandaged up.

"Gothi removed the arrow while you were unconscious" she informed. "How did I become unconscious?" he asked, recollecting that he walked into Gothi's while he was conscious. "Gothi opened up one of her many bottles of mysteries and gave it to you to smell and you passed out" she said. _"That's what that smell was. I thought Tuffnut brought his dad's shoe"_ Hiccup thought.

"How are you feeling? Besides the arrow in the leg" Astrid asked. "Well, considering this is my second injury in less than three days, I guess I'm doing great" he said in a mocking tone, to which he saw Astrid raise her fist a bit but had enough self control to pull it back down. Hiccup had flinched when he saw Astrid raise her arm, but then realized that she thought she took him seriously.

"Astrid...I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that" he said looking at her to see she was looking at the door. She let out a tired sigh, "It's alright, and if you're wondering, the Outcasts have all retreated...the ones that were still alive anyway" she said. "And what about the...not so alive ones?" Hiccup asked.

"Their bodies are about to be burned in the centre of the village, since we can't bury them here" she answered. That was a fitting end to those damn Outcasts who attacked Berk. "What about our own losses?" Hiccup asked, knowing that he saw their own men and women on the ground, not moving. Astrid's face also turned pale. "Their ceremonies will take place tomorrow...but thank Oden, we only lost seven" she said, even though there was no lift in her voice.

They might have lost only seven people, but since Berk was such a tight community, they would feel devastated. Almost everyone knew each other in Berk. And those seven souls were going to be deeply missed.

"What about Ripper and his dragon?" Hiccup asked, trying to change the subject. "Well...his Whispering Death has certainly proved where his loyalties lie, and Ripper is fine, he and the others are eager to know how you're doing" she said, glad Hiccup moved onto a different topic. "Where's my dad?" he asked. Stoick was there the first time he got injured.

"He's overseeing the burning of the Outcasts and arranging the funerals" she replied. At that moment Gothi walked in with a bowl and some brownish, green liquid in it. Astrid covered her mouth and nose to prevent the smell from going in and Hiccup's face was turning green, matching the colour of his eyes. "Please tell me I don't have to drink that" he said, already feeling his gag muscles getting ready. Gothi simply looked at him and handed him the bowl, and made drinking gestures...fear confirmed. "Well here goes nothing" he said and held his breath and chugged as much of the liquid as possible. Luckily there wasn't a lot so he was finished in a few seconds. But the taste was _so_ bad that when he put the bowl away, the expression on his face stayed for a full minute. Astrid had gone to get a him a glass of water and he chugged that down in less than a second.

"Hasn't got the taste out of my mouth but...it's better. Thanks" he said handing back the glass to Astrid. "No problem" she replied. Just then, Ripper and Fishlegs came inside the house. "Hey Hiccup, since you're not fit to right now, can I run the Academy?" Ripper asked as he came by Hiccup's bedside. "Nice to see you care so much" he replied in his sarcastic tone, knowing Ripper was joking. "Besides, Astrid would run it, not you" Hiccup said, glancing at Astrid who smiled smugly at Ripper.

"Any-who, how you doing with the leg to complement the shoulder?" Fishlegs asked. " Uhh...not too great. I have to be careful now with this leg" he said moving his injured leg below the fur cover. "How's the Whispering Death doing?" he asked. "He's doing fine, happy he one his rematch with Alvin's dragon, by the way...his name is Razorcut" Ripper said. "Razorcut huh? Fitting name" he complemented.

At that instance Stoick walked in, careful of the low doorway this time. "How's my warrior doing?" he asked. "Uh...better than always" Hiccup replied. Remarkably the 'puke' he drank, sine there was no other nice word for it, reduced the pain in his leg and chest, as he had a few bandages wrapped around his upper torso for the two broken ribs.

"That's ma' boy. Now I wanted to tell all of you that Frieya's Day will be cancelled" he said joined his hands. All the teens' mouths dropped. They couldn't believe that one of the best festivals was cancelled. "Why?!" they all asked. "Easy now kids, well the damage from the attack yesterday will take a week to repair, plus Frieya's Day has already been pushed back a few times so...we thought that it should be postponed in the next two months" Stoick explained, seeing all the disappointed teen's faces.

"Damn Outcasts" Ripper said under his breath. "Gothi, how long will Hiccup have to recover this time?" he asked. Gothis began drawing images in the ground, and through those said _about 3-4 weeks_. "Three to four weeks!" Hiccup exclaimed. "What am I supposed to do during that time?" he complained. He was going to be so bored. He wanted to get right back into training, especially training the new addition to the dragon. "I only arrived a few days ago and I was really hoping of not sitting around all day doing nothing" he said with disbelieving look while staring out the window. "Well that's what you get for being popular" Ripper remarked. "Yeah...lucky me" Hiccup shot back.

"Gothi, is there anything that Hiccup can do without being stuck to his bed?" Stoick asked, knowing Hiccup will disobey her orders eventually. _He _has_ to stay in bed for at least a week. From then on he can walk about the village but can't do anything strenuous for the rest of the healing period_ she said through her images.

"Ripper, Fishlegs, you'll two be in charge of the Academy for the month" Stoick said. "Really?" was the response he got from Hiccup, and a loud "Yes!" from Fishlegs. "What about Astrid? She was in charge of the Academy while I was away" Hiccup said. He even did say that there was no way Ripper would be head, boy was he wrong.

"She'll be in charge of you for the month, making sure you don't go against Gothi's orders" Stoick said. Hiccup and Astrid both looked at each other and back at Stoick. "And what I am I supposed to do?" she asked. She could take care of him but she wanted to know what were the boundaries. "Well if he needs help to change his clothes, applying medicine and overall just making sure he doesn't go off" Stoick explained. The two late teens blushed when he said that she might have to help him change clothes.

"When do I start?" Astrid asked, suppressing her blush. "Right now. I'm sorry I have to put you at this task but I know that you're the best person for this job since you're the only other person who knows how to do deal with him" he said. "What about me. I had to live, protect and train him for almost two years. I think I know how to deal with him" Ripper said. "Well are you going to marry him?" Stoick asked. By this time Fishlegs had left to tell the others about his new promotion...and to the teens in the room it was good that he left so that he wouldn't see their expressions.

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other blushing and back to Stoick while Ripper just looked at Stoick with wide eyes. "On second thought, Astrid, you know Hiccup the best. See yah" he said and quickly followed Fishlegs' steps.

"Dad, you're not planning a wedding already right?" Hiccup asked, just wanting to make sure there weren't any more surprises. Stoick let out a hearty laugh, "Of course not son, just needed to prove a point. Astrid, you can take over now" and with that Stoick said his goodbyes and left the house to continue with his chief duties.

Astrid and Hiccup were left in awkward silence. "Huh...uhhh...Gothi, is it alright if I head back to my house?" Hiccup asked, breaking the silence. _Yes you may. Astrid, stay by his side at all times_ she said and went back into her backroom, doing Oden knows what. Astrid nodded her head. She retrieved Hiccup's clothes and he said that he could put them on without her help, but had second thoughts when he had trouble putting on his shirt. "Here let me help" Astrid said without waiting for him to ask and put on his shirt for him. After he was done dressing himself, Astrid allowed him to use her for support and she helped him outside into the afternoon air.

The walk to his house was somewhat uneventful. Mostly because people were getting ready for the funerals that were going to be held tomorrow. Some people came by them and gave their wishes to a speedy recovery and thanking Hiccup cause it could have been a lot worse in the fight yesterday.

After ten minutes they reached his house. Astrid opened the door and Hiccup hopped in, making sure he kept pressure off his injured leg. Toothless was inside waiting and came bounding towards him. Astrid saw this, "No Toothless! Hiccup's injured and he can't do anything strenuous" she said getting in between Hiccup and Toothless and calming the dragon. Toothless seemed to have understood because he walked slowly to Hiccup and let him rub his head.

Hiccup pulled up a chair and sat down, with Astrid sitting beside him. "Sorry you have to be on Hiccup duty. I know you've got more important things to do" Hiccup said. "Not really, and don't mention it. I'm glad your dad put me on Hiccup duty" she said with a smile.

_"Wow she looks as beautiful as ever"_ Hiccup thought. This was a good chance to see how much she had really changed. The time hasn't changed her personality but her beauty seemed to increase even more. She wore a red shirt this time with her usual shoulder pads, her spiked skirt stayed and she wore a sort of fur robe over her shoulders **(look at the pics on Google and you'll see what I mean)**. She had grown her hair longer as now there was more hair that was over her eye and her braid was longer, and by the Gods!

"Hiccup snap out of it" he heard a voice and came to see Astrid snap two fingers in front of him. "S-sorry...I didn't mean to...s-stare" he said meekly. Astrid thought it was cute. _"He hasn't really changed"_ she thought. "It's going to be pretty boring looking after me, are you sure you want to go through with this?" he asked. Astrid held his hand in hers and looked into his emerald green eyes with her sky blue, "I'm sure" she said. "Besides, what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't look after my guy?" she said with a laugh, to which Hiccup laughed as well.

_Outcast Island_

Alvin slammed the door after walking into his chambers. He grabbed a chair and threw it at the solid wall and it shattered into thousands of pieces. "That boy is going to be the death of me!" he screamed. His remaining men and him had just got back and he was as mad as Loki when he found out that he wouldn't be king.

"Calm down Alvin" a voice said from the shadows. Alvin looked to see a dark figure in the shadows, but saw that his feet and some of his robe were in the light. "What do you mean calm down, I lost over three quarters of my men! And that boy still lives!" he yelled back. The dark figure still leaned against the wall, not a bit fazed by Alvin's anger.

"What are we supposed to do now?" he asked. "This test went exactly as I hoped it would, and don't worry Alvin, you'll get payback soon enough" the figure said walking to the door of Alvin's quarters. "And back to your question, I'm going to see a Berserker to see what he will think about saying hello to Hiccup again" the figure smiled and exited his quarters.


	13. Future Strike

**A/N: Hey guys, please leave a review because I want to hear your opinions on how I'm doing, if I'm doing a little a but OOC for the characters or if I need to work on a certain area. I need reviews or please PM me because then I know my story is really catching your attention. Thank you. And I might start doing POV from now on. And please check my other story, _The Past Defines The Future_, hopefully it's as good as this. **

_Unknown POV_

"How far are we from the Berserkers?" a voice asked. The second in command looked far out in all directions of the sea. They had been travelling for about four days now, until "About 50 miles north east sir" the man responded to his superior. In that distance he could see a few mountains jutting up into the sky. "Send a few scouts to know that we mean business" the voice ordered, and with a curt nod and a hand gesture, fifteen dragons with riders on them set off for the Berserker Tribe.

_Berk - Hiccup's POV_

It's been a week since I sustained my newest injury and now I could finally leave my prison...which was my house...and walk around Berk again. Astrid had been incredibly helpful to me over that week. In fact she had to stay over because my dad didn't want me sneaking out in the night...which I would have done, knowing how stubborn I am. Dad set up a makeshift bed for her when he came back in my room so she could keep a _close_ eye on me...and is she a light sleeper. I did try and sneak away but when I was at the window a candle went on and looked back to see Astrid staring with a face I knew all too well..._"Do that and see what happens"_. I immediately jumped back into bed without a second thought.

We found things to do around the house. I even had to teach her how to cook. She was so embarrassed when she said she couldn't cook, which was no surprise to me since she was not the stay-at-home wife type. She did threaten me not to tell anyone, but I'm pretty sure most people knew but to them it wasn't confirmed. Since I am an only child and dad was out, I had to teach myself to cook. Did burn the kitchen down once or twice...maybe thrice...but that's how I learned. But cooking wasn't all that bad, especially when you have a dragon that likes to play around. Out of the 2 hours we spent cooking, three quarters of that was spent trying to get the food back from Toothless who was moving quickly about the house.

Today I got an early start to the day. Astrid was already downstairs preparing breakfast when I joined her. "Morning" I said coming to join her at her side. "How'd you sleep?" she asked. "Pretty good actually. I can't wait to get out of here" I said, eager to get out there and start working again. "Yeah, I can't wait to get out of here. I can't understand how Ripper spent two years with you" she said witty smile. "What? I didn't destroy the house did I?" I asked, going back to old memories of me messing things up. Right now I just laugh when I think about them.

She took the bread out that she was baking and set it on the table along with some freshly cooked fish and meat. "Eat up, you've got a long day ahead of you" she said sitting at the table. "I thought I wasn't supposed to be doing work?" I asked, remembering dad telling me I can't do anything strenuous.

"Well Gobber wants you at the forge. I tried to tell him that your dad wanted you to take it easy but he said he still needed you" she said digging into a piece of bread. "That's Gobber for you, only will let you skip if you've lost a limb, until he builds a replacement that is" I said with a laugh, trying a piece of her bread. "Oh wow" I said after taking a bite of the bread. "What?" she asked looking up. "For once your bread doesn't taste like stone" I said with a laugh and she threw her piece at me, hitting me right in the forehead and I looked to see her fuming...in a good way.

"Your unbelievable" she replied with an agitated smile. "Well come on, I don't want to miss this day" I said as I finished my meal and got up carefully, Toothless by my side to make sure I took it easy, and Astrid at my other.

It was another crisp, cool day on Berk, given that the sun was shining brightly. Why we would settle in a place I'll still never know. I kept one hand on Toothless for support as we walked slowly to the Forge. "Gobber can't have anything serious for you to do right?" Astrid asked. I looked to her to see that she did have concern for me, considering my shoulder was still healing and that my leg was just beginning to heal. "I know it's nothing too strenuous, but we'll have to see" I said as we reached the Forge, which now was also a dentist's home for dragons.

The shutters were still closed indicating that Gobber had not yet arrived. I unlocked the doors with his key and walked inside with Astrid while Toothless remained outside. I opened the rest of the windows to let more light in. I then saw a note on one of the window shutters. I opened it:

_Hiccup I found ye' journal and I saw what you plan to do for the lass. This whole day at the forge is going to be for that. Work on it, without the lass finding out. P.S: your journal and the gold are in your old room_

I crumbled up the paper and threw it in the fireplace. "Curse him, just curse him" I said, chuckling a bit as well. He always loves toying with me but getting into my love life, oh, is he stepping the boundary. I walked into my old room at the back. This time I just had to duck my head a bit, an indication of how much I've grown. I saw my journal along with a wrapped piece of cloth which seemed to have contained two objects. I knew instantly that they were the gold nugget and diamond I mined on one of my trips. "Hiccup, are you in there?" I heard Astrid call. I quickly stuffed the cloth into my pocket. It had to remain a secret until the proposal.

_Normal POV_

Astrid walked in to see Hiccup holding his small red book that he always kept by him. "What do you write in that book of yours?" she asked coming up beside him. "Oh...I don't write in this...I just doodle" he said, not making a big deal of it. "Can I see it?" she asked. Hiccup tensed a bit at this, the designs for the ring were in this book and he didn't want her to see them. "Nope" he simply stated without taking his eyes of the book. "And why not?" she asked, not believing he just said no to her. "Because I said so" he said, but he knew she was going to try something, most likely violent.

"Hiccup" she said in a tone that immediately got him worried. He looked to his left to see that she had a dead serious face on. She took a step towards him and in response he backed up against his desk. She took another step towards him and he was leaning back on his desk, terrified for the world of pain that was about to be upon him. _"Maybe I should have just given the book"_ he thought.

The distance between her and him was no more than a finger's length. But Astrid did something that Hiccup didn't expect at all. She turned him around and slowly sat him on his chair in the room. Hiccup grunted a little and soon straddled on his lap, but she still had her serious face. "Uhh...A-Astrid, what are you..." he stopped when she put her finger over his lips. By now he was already feeling movement in his lower area and she ran her hands over his arms.

Hiccup was at a loss for words by the way she was acting. And before he knew it, she was smiling, her victory smile, and that's when it hit him. "You are one deceiving girl" he said as she held his book in front of his face and got off him. She started flipping through the pages as Hiccup recovered from his...experience.

"Hiccup...these aren't doodles...they're...amazing!" she exclaimed as she saw drawings of dragons, landscapes, mountains, cities. Then she came one that caught her breath. Hiccup was hoping it wasn't the ring. "You drew one of me?" she asked as she looked over the sketch. It was an exact copy of her. From every detail in her clothes to every strand of her hair. That's when Hiccup grabbed the book from her and put it in his pocket. "I had time on my hands, so I drew what came to my mind" he said.

"Since it's near the end of the book, that means..." "That means that you were always on my mind. I worked for a long time on that sketch of you" he said coming closer to her. "So do you want an apology for me taking it too hard on you?" Astrid asked, going along with the whole situation they were in that could only end in one way. "Not exactly. Besides you did say I have to work to get you back right?" he asked as his face was just inches away from his and circling his hands around her waist. She was brought in too close that her hands were now placed on his chest.

"That's right, and how's that going for you?" she asked their lips were getting closer by the second. Hiccup stared into her sky blue eyes, entranced by her divine beauty. "I'm working on it...but so far it's working" he said as he closed his lips with hers. It has been a long time since they got any alone time to themselves and now, with the entire Forge to themselves, it couldn't get better.

The kiss became more passionate as Hiccup pushed his tongue into her mouth and she gladly accepted it. Her hands moved from his chest to his neck and head and he lifted her onto his desk so that she was sitting on it while he moved his left hand along her leg. Even though he couldn't feel her skin, he knew that it was soft as a cloud. Her lips were like a field of wild flowers, extremely soft but bursting with excitement. Hiccup removed her robe that was trailing her and it fell back onto the table, moving his other hand to her back. After three minutes of passionate kissing they broke apart because of the lack of air staring at each other.

"I love you...so much" he said running his hand across her cheek. "I love you too" Astrid replied enjoying the feeling.

"And I love seeing these moments" a voice said causing them to jump and turn to see Ripper under the doorway, who immediately ducked when Astrid threw a hammer at his head. "Do you know what privacy is!?" she yelled, clear fire in her eyes. "Trust me doesn't" Hiccup said, also annoyed that they were interrupted. "Hey don't blame me, Stoick wanted me to tell you two that he wants to meet with you" he said, peeking his head into the room in case one of them threw something at him again. "Ok, thanks" Hiccup said and Ripper left, happy that he didn't get hurt.

"You know we have to get him back right?" Astrid said getting off the table and reattaching her robe to her shoulder pads. "Oh big time...for all the times he's got me and for this" he said walking out of the room with her. They left the Forge open as Gobber was coming back soon. "So looks like you've forgiven me" he said with a smug smile on their way to find Stoick. "It was just the moment" she countered. "Which was initiated by you with your...seduction technique" he said. Astrid laughed a bit. "You would love that to happen again wouldn't you?" she asked to which Hiccup grinned sheepishly. "Who wouldn't?" he said receiving a punch in his arm...the un-injured one.

They soon found Stoick by the docks with Thornado supervising the loading of a ship that were about to go out. "There you two are" he said, leaving his post for a minute. "What did you need me for dad?" he asked. "I wanted to tell you that I'll be leaving to the Glacier Tribe in the north. It's a diplomatic and a trade mission, and Raknok asked for my help. The trip is about a week in total so I just wanted to tell you that" Stoick said.

"Wait so who'll be in charge while you're gone?" Hiccup asked. "Well since you're still recovering and Gobber won't work so well, Spitelout will be in charge" Stoick said as he saw that the final cargo has been loaded. Thornado was already waiting on the ship for his rider to come aboard. "Oh boy, Snotlout will take full advantage of this" Hiccup said looking at Astrid. "Don't worry son, it'll be over as soon as you know it. Take care you two" he said before getting on the ship. Soon the sails dropped and with a little help from Thornado's roar, they were well on their way in their journey.

"Well I'll be avoiding Snotlout for a while" Hiccup stated as he watched his dad leave. "Well don't worry about it, we'll try to avoid him the best we can" Astrid reassured.

_The Berserkers_

"So do I have your attention yet?" the Mysterious man asked Dagur. His escort was dead and anyone who tried to fight back were dead. There were fifteen dragons surrounding him. Some on the ground keeping his men and everyone else in check while some others were in the air doing a final recon. "Let me get this straight, if I join you, you'll show me how to tame these beasts and provide me with them?" Dagur asked, making sure he wasn't being played.

"That's if you join me, obey my every command and support me" the man said. "Support you in what?" Dagur asked. His reply was just a laughter. "In world domination of course, but first I need you to do a little test for me" he said. When Dagur heard world domination, that's all he needed to hear to join this man. "What do you need commander?" he asked smiling at the same time.

"I need you to try can capture Astrid Hofferson" he said.


	14. Enter The Berserker's

**A/N: Hey guys, NFS LOVER here. Did you guys get a look at the pictures of how the characters? I mean WOW, Astrid and Hiccup changed so much, and they both look so much better. Hiccup looks more masculine and handsome and Astrid looks as beautiful as ever...although I still believe she's has her fiery personality. Anyway, enjoy!**

_Dagur's POV_

I can't believe the man I just met. He just handed me ten more ships, along with twenty of his men...who are remarkably better than my own. I got to get rid of my own so I can get them. That would be wonderful. But first I have to complete this dumb task. I mean really? Kidnap that fishbone's girlfriend? Come on, give me a challenge at least. This'll be a walk in the forest. At least he didn't be specific in how I should do this task...which means...blood can _definitely_ be spilt. "Oh this is gonna be a great day" I said as we were nearing Berk. It's been a four day trip so now, we would be at Berk by nightfall. Get ready to lose more than your girlfriend Hiccup. I looked at my sword, ready to sever his head.

_Hiccup's POV_

It's been four days since dad left...and thank Oden we haven't seen Snotlout. We got word from Ripper that he was just searching for me to rub it in my face but we stayed in my house the whole time, and Astrid told Snotlout that my dad gave her strict orders that no one should be allowed to see me...even relatives. That point was proven when Ripper literally threw him from my front door when he was coming over to talk to Astrid.

"Do I really have to go?!" I asked Astrid. Yesterday when Ripper had come over to tell me of a problem that occurred at the ring, but wouldn't tell Astrid what it was. Instead, since he came in the night, he told us to come the next day. "Yes we have to. You are the head trainer after all" she said as she clamped on her robe. "Besides, he looked really worried...so I bet it's serious" she said as reattached my prosthetic. You see on in my training it wasn't easy using my prosthetic since it was a big disadvantage...so I made a new one, one that can be readjusted to suit the terrain I'm in.

"Now come on and face your cousin" she said getting up and opening the door. I simply sighed and got up and walked out the door. "This is going to be a long day" I said. Well, it was already the evening so it was almost over. For most of the day I was in the Forge getting started on the ring. Astrid made sure Snotlout didn't interrupt me about his dad being the chief and because of her task, I was able to get some work done. I had cut out the perfect shape of the diamond I needed to fill the open place for the gold ring.

We walked with Toothless right to the Arena. My leg had improved drastically. The wound was still not done healing but it was getting better. "So what do you think the problem is?" she asked, trying to start small talk. "Uh...I don't know, usually in the past if something was wrong we would usually have to fly somewhere to solve it" I said. All our crazy adventures ended up like that. She laughed a bit. "Those were the good days alright" she said. "We can repeat them, except it could be just you and me" I said walking closer to her and holding her hand with mine.

"I'll think about it" she said, moving her bangs with her other hand over her eye. She always looked so cute when she did that. We reached the Dragon Academy and saw the others waiting for us...and Snotlout was there. "Hey Hiccup, did you hear that you have to listen to me for the week?" Snotlout said as soon as he saw us. "Three days left Snotlout, so I'm almost there" I said as I walked past him and to Ripper who was with his dragon, Razorcut.

"Ripper what did you want to talk about?" I asked. "Well first I think I know how to counter the sun's effects on the Whispering Death" he said with a smile. "Really?" I asked, not believing it. "I know, even I didn't believe it first until he showed me" Fishlegs said. Well Fishlegs has been proven then I must watch out for what he has. "What is it?" Astrid asked. "Eels" Ripper just answered. "Eels?" I asked not sure how that could work. Most dragons hated eels, in fact all dragons except for the Whispering Death.

"Yeah hard to believe right, but remember when Razorcut ate that eel you through in?" he asked. I nodded. "Well it eats eels and I guess there is something in an eel that helps this dragon cope with the sunlight. Maybe some sort of acid or chemical or meat inside it. I tested it, every time I gave him eels he was able to come out into the sun. I just have to give him one eel a day to come out in the sun" Ripper said, ecstatic at the discovery. "This has got to go into the Book of Dragons" I said. "Already taken care of Hiccup" Fishlegs said.

But then I remember Astrid said that Ripper was worried when he came over. "Wait then why did you sound worried?" I asked. That's when his face became worried again. "One of our ships spotted what they believed were Berserker ships in the distance. But that was yesterday, so it's hard to say what way they were headed" he said. "My dad wouldn't have left if the Berserkers were coming" I said. "No but he would have told my dad" Snotlout boasted. One of these days I want to punch him in the face.

"Snotlout, Hiccup's next in line to be chief, Stoick would have surely told him if the Berserkers were actually coming" Astrid said. "Either way I think we should stay on our guard in case they're heading for Berk" I said. The others nodded and went about their business. Me and Astrid left the Academy and walked back. "What do you say we take the scenic route?" I asked, up for a little adventure. She made a thinking face about it, but I was sure she wanted to do it as well. "Sure" she said. I told Toothless to go back home which he reluctantly did, leaving me and my girlfriend.

We were at the shores before you knew it, the waves coming in, the moon in the sky, Astrid leaning on my arm...everything was just perfect. "You know...I really enjoy times like this" she said as we stopped. "Yeah, it's been so long since I had a peaceful night" I said turning to face her. She placed her hands on my chest and I placed mine around her waist and held her close. "I like these parts the best" I said. "Me too" she replied and we locked lips as we closed our eyes.

Then everything went black...

* * *

I felt someone licking me...huge licks that left a lot of slob. Wait, what? I opened my eyes to find Toothless' head above me. "Toothless...w-what are you doing?" I said as he got up. He crooned as he nudged me with his head. I don't even know what happened. "Hiccup!" I heard someone yell and I turn to see Ripper and the other teens running to me. "Hiccup we saw Toothless running here. He clearly looked like something was wrong, what happened?" Ripper asked. "And where's Astrid?" Ruffnut asked the others joined me.

"I-I don't know...we were taking a walk along the beach...and we kissed and everything went black" I said rubbing my head. I opened my eyes in realization. I remember a shooting pain through my head just seconds after we kissed...like something...hit me. "Toothless plasma blast" I said and Toothless shot one in the air and when it blew, I looked to the ground of the beach, and there definitely signs of a struggle. There were multiple feet and drag marks leading to a place where the waves were coming. "I was jumped" I said as I got up but immediately fell back down grasping by chest. "Hiccup careful, you have two broken ribs remember?" Ripper said helping me stand up.

"I was attacked here. I think one guy came up behind me, and I don't know but maybe I was beaten when I was unconscious. And I think they took Astrid" I said as I looked up, realizing my own words. "ASTRID!" I said and looked to the ocean. There must have been a boat there where they put her on and left. "Guys we have to go get her!" I said getting on Toothless. "Hiccup you're in no condition to fight!" Ripper said as he grabbed my arm.

"They took Astrid Ripper, I'm not going to just stay here and let them get away" I said. "Do you even know who took her?" Fishlegs asked. "I have a good suspicion" I said knowing those Berserker ships were nearby somewhere. "Well you ain't going there alone, we're going to join you" Ripper said. I smiled. It was great to have friends like them. "I'm going to go scout ahead" I said taking off into the air.

"I'm coming Astrid" I said and Toothless kicked it into overdrive.

_Astrid's POV_

"What is the meaning of this Dagur!" I yelled. I was tied to the mast, the and seated on a crate. The rope went right around me, holding my arms down and constricting my body from moving. "Oh...I'm sorry for the...'rough' treatment, but you know how hard it is to control my men" he said coming up to me. He reached his hand out and pulled some of my bangs over my left eye. He had a sadistic smile on him. He ran his hand down to my chin, but I pulled my head back. He smirked and turned around and began walking to the helm. "Hiccup will make you pay" I said in a calm voice, knowing how Hiccup was when it came to me.

"Huh, the same Hiccup who has an injured shoulder, an injured leg and two broken ribs...maybe three after I kicked him those times...by the way, how was it watching your boyfriend get beaten?" he asked. By the Gods, if I wasn't tied to this mast he would be in a Scauldron's stomach right now. I saw everything that happened. When he locked lips I felt someone jerk me back and saw Hiccup get hit in the head by Dagur and he fell. The man who grabbed me was at least twice my size and stopped me from screaming while I watched Dagur kick Hiccup in the ribs. I struggled hard, even kicked the guy a few times but couldn't get loose. He was too strong and they tied me up...loaded me onto their small boat and brought me here.

"Besides it would be a while until he wakes up, granted that I didn't hit him too hard" he said. That smirk on his face was growing ever so wider. But that all changed when we heard the distinct sound of a Nightfury approaching. He looked at me and it was my turn to smirk..."Told yah" I stated.

_Hiccup's POV_

Me and Toothless were travelling at full speed. We were making our way east and right now I could see a ship in the distance with the few lights it had. "Alright bud, time to make them pay" I said and he smiled his toothy grin which meant he was ready to give them Hel. There was only one ship and that was the one Astrid was one. It was carrying the Berserker's tribe's crescent. This act of aggression broke the Peace Treaty that they signed.

"Toothless plasma blast!" I said and he shot a few warning shots right into the waters near the boat. I couldn't shoot directly at the boat because Astrid was on it. I soon saw Berserker men ready their arrows and started firing at us, but they were no match for Toothless' speed. You see, in my training, I also trained with Toothless, increasing our speed, agility and tactics.

"Toothless, blind shot" I said and he fired one right above the ship which exploded in a bright light, blinding everyone near it. This was my chance. Toothless landed on the ship and I jumped off going into a roll to absorb the energy of the jump. I packed a hammer with me so I unsheathed it and ran straight for the nearest Berserker and knocked him right on the head. I knew the force I had to hit to kill a person, so I knocked him unconscious, and went for my next target. Things were much easier for Toothless. He simply wacked any Berserker that came near him with his tail and gave them a taste of his plasma blast.

After I was done clearing my share of Berserkers, I saw Astrid tied at the mast and went for her. "It's ok Astrid, I'm here" I said as I started cutting her ropes. "Hiccup lookout!" she yelled but it was too late. When I turned around, I was met with a kick to the face and went to the side a few feet and landed on my front side.

I turned over onto my back and saw Dagur standing there with a sword at the ready. "My Hiccup how much have you changed" he said. "Yeah, I get that a lot" I said as I stood up, holding my chest and my hammer with my right hand. "What's the matter Hiccup? Broke a few bones?" he asked in a mocking tone as he stood there. "What do you want Dagur?" I asked.

"What do I want? Oh that's simple...I want to test you" he said and lunged at me with his sword. I quickly side stepped out of the way and brought my hammer down. But Dagur was quick and blocked my strike with his sword. He used his other arm and punched me in the stomach. I staggered back clutching my stomach. "You won't beat me Hiccup" he said as he walked forward and raised his sword. "I'll always be stronger than you" he said as he brought his sword down with great force but I blocked it. "I have more experience than you" he said as he took another strike but again I was able to block it, but my arm got weaker from the strain it was taking. "And I'll always be..." he said as he kicked me to right where Astrid was and I fell on the deck hard on my back. "Hiccup!" I heard her yell.

I looked up to see Dagur raise his sword, "...I'll always be better than you" and brought it down, but at the last moment, a few spikes flew in his direction and knocked the sword right of his hand. "What the...?" he said and we looked to the sky to see the others had arrived. "Took you long enough" I said as I got up slowly and started cutting Astrid's ropes. "Well you did disappear without leaving a trace, so I won't go pointing fingers just yet" Ripper said. "You have a Whispering Death?" Dagur asked as he stared in awe at the massive beast.

"By the way, nice shots with the spikes" I said. "Oh that wasn't me" he said and that's when Stormfly appeared next to him and flew over to the boat and landed on it where we were. "You see Dagur, Deadly Nadders are very protective of their riders, and they don't like it when their riders get kidnapped" Astrid said as she got up and came over to rub Stormfly's snout, who was still staring at Dagur with the attention to kill him.

"Dagur, you have just kidnapped the future Chieftess of Berk, attempt to murder me and as a result you have broken the Peace Treaty between our tribes" I said, except one of those things should have stayed in. Astrid as well as the other teens stared in shock when I said future Chieftess of Berk.

Dagur laughed, a maniacal one at that. "Do you really think anyone here can vouch for you?" he said. "You all are just teens, who's going to believe you?" he asked.

"For an instance I would" we heard. "Dad!" I yelled as I saw him on Thornado flying to us. He jumped off and landed on the ship. "Dagur, you have just broken the peace treaty between our tribes by kidnapping the future Chieftess of Berk and attempt to murder the future chief. I suggest you leave now before things get out of hand" he said in a deadly voice. Dagur looked at all the dragons flying around, noting the Thunderdrome and the Whispering Death. "Alright I will, and we'll never speak of this again ok?" he asked as if nothing was wrong. I so wanted to punch him right then and there but...

"Oh Chief, one more thing" Astrid said as she walked up to Dagur and kicked him in his family jewels. All the guys, even my dad made that expression when we get hurt..._there_. "That's for kidnapping me" she said. She kicked him again in the face knocking him out cold. "And that's...for everything else" she said and she walked back to me and immediately hugged me. "Thank you for coming for me" she said. "Hey I'll always be here to help you" I said and locked lips with her.

"Ahem" we all heard coming from around us and saw that Snotlout and Tuffnut were making puking faces and the others staring at us. "Dad how did you get back so early?" I asked. "Well it turns out Raknar and his crew met us at a halfway point, so it shortened our trip and we were on our way back when I decided to fly back but then I saw this ship and...you know the rest" he said. "Now come on, we should get back home" he said. My dad, Astrid and I hopped on our dragons and took off for Berk.

"So, future Chieftess of Berk huh?" Astrid asked with a smirk. "I have no idea what you're talking about" I answered.

_Back on the Berserker Ship_

Dagur felt someone kick him. "W-What?" he asked as he looked up and saw the Mysterious figure above him. "I wasn't sleeping!" he said as he shot up on his feet. "Take it easy Dagur" the figure said in a deep voice. "Well looks like I failed the test" he said.

The figure still didn't look at him. "Not exactly, I needed to see what I needed...and as a reward, there'll be four of my men with their dragons waiting back at your tribe. They are going to teach you how to tame dragons and capture them. Do anything you're not supposed to and they won't hesitate to kill you" he said. Dagur smiled. He got his wish and had a new ally as well.

He then saw a dark dragon land on his ship. A much larger Nightfury, one with battle scars, a lot bigger than Hiccup's dragon. He saw the figure get on the dragon. "Wait, what is your name!?" he asked. "The son of Daedra" he said simply and took off.


	15. Planning Ahead

**A/N: This has to be longest chapter in Fanfiction. 5,600 words or so, but hope you guys enjoy it. **

_Hiccup's POV_

The events of the previous night had left a sour imprint on my dad's mind. The treaty that they had upheld for all this time was just thrown away by some rash, incredibly stupid stunt that just sent the two tribes twenty years back in the making. "I can't believe him!" he yelled as he stomped about the main room. "He even had the audacity to attack when I was gone" he continued his rant. "Out of all the completely low down idiotic things he's done, this has to top it all off" he continued. Me and Astrid were upstairs in my room, just recovering from the night's events. Turns out Dagur had broken another rib of mine...and I now have three...just my rotten luck.

Astrid was right now helping by applying the new bandages on my chest and applying a thick cream that was a combination of grounded leaves, herbs and spices to help with the sore muscles and speed up the healing process. "You're a real hazard you know that" she said as she rubbed more of the cream on my chest. "Really? Is that how I get thanked for saving you?" I asked as I saw her glance at me and smile.

"I did thank you remember?" she asked. She was talking about the kiss, but call me greedy, I wanted another one. "Uhh...no...could you please remind me?" I said perking my lips out and closing my eyes. _Big Mistake_. I soon felt her rub something on my lip and when I opened my eyes I saw that she was trying hard not to hit the floor laughing. "GAH!" I started wiping the cream off my mouth immediately. "Did that help click your memory?" she asked as she smirked at me and proceeded to apply the bandages.

"Oh yeah, you didn't tell me about it" she suddenly said. I looked at her, wondering what she was talking about. She could see the confusion on my face and so decided to tell me. "Future Chieftess of Berk?" she said raising her eye and smirking while she put away the medicinal treatment. "Are we really going to go over this again?" I asked. I was so not in the mood of discussing my plans...which right now were in question.

"Well you did say and I quote, '_kidnapped the future Chieftess of Berk_' end quote. So am I missing something?" she asked. "Ok first of all...that impression sounded nothing like me...second, it was just a way to trick him to display the seriousness of the situation" I said. _Good save there Hiccup. Hope she buys it_ I thought. "I'm not the one who blurted out that I'd be the next Chieftess" she said getting defensive. "Well I don't know about it either okay...my dad said that he'd talk about it with me" I said and that exact moment we heard something breaking below. "You know right after...he calms down" I said seeing he was still mad about the incident.

"But Hiccup I'm serious...why did you say that?" she asked. I looked at her and she was serious. Her face didn't really tell it but the tone of her voice did. "I...(sigh)...I don't know Astrid...to tell you the truth it just came out" I said. Looking back upon the situation, mad would just be an understatement. I could not believe that Dagur would sink that low to get to me. He could have just kidnapped me and leave Astrid alone but no...he put her life at risk and it just got right at the heart.

"Maybe because I didn't know what he was going to do to you" I said. She listened in more clearly, and I still wasn't making eye contact. "I love you so much Astrid...I was away from you for almost 2 years and I thought about you every...single...day. I dreamed of the moment when I came back home...back to you. And nobody else is going to argue with me on this, but...you are incredible Astrid" I said now looking at her. "You are, undeniably, the most beautiful, spirited, caring and understanding girl on this island...in my eyes. And...when Dagur kidnapped you, that felt like a personal attack on me...actually it was a personal attack. I guess the only reason I said future Chieftess of Berk was that...by getting that 'status' out there, they might know what they get themselves into before they go through with whatever plan. I understand perfectly if they come after me...but the thought of them going after you...just to get to me...it just sickens me" I said. I looked at Astrid and she was smiling lovingly.

"OW!" I yelled as she punched my arm. "That's for thinking I can't handle my own" she said...and then she leaned and placed a soft kiss on my lips. Unlike the other times this one was tender and caring. "...and that's for caring so much about me" she said as she pulled away. "I'll never stop caring about you" I said grabbing her hand and pulling her down on me, that she was sitting on my good leg. "You are my life...as is Toothless" I said looking at the big scaly lizard who was fast asleep in his corner of the room...or he was just listening in on our conversation because you can normally hear him breath heavily when he's asleep. "Seems he's tired from tonight's events" she said, looking at Toothless before looking back at me. "Nah, he just doesn't like us making lovey-dovey faces" I said to which she made that cute giggle.

"Wait, have you seen your parents at all during this time?" I asked. It's been three weeks and I feared that she was moving away from her family just to take care of me for a month. "Oh don't worry, I told them that I would have to take care of you for a month and they were more than happy that I was. They figured that it would be a good chance for us to _bond_" she said using air quotes for that word. "Do you know what kind _bonding_ they had in mind?" I asked laughing. Considering we were just teens, adults had their own ideas. They thought that we were wild, outrageous, brash, acting on emotion people...and they are right. We are teens after all, we are in our late teens so we're getting the hang of it...just. But when it comes to my relationship with Astrid...that's where the gossip level is at its peak. There are so many rumours about us that people don't know which are true. They do know we are seeing each other but they don't know...how far we've taken the relationship. I'm not going to lie...I like to take my own time...even though since I'm in my late eighteen's, I am the perfect age to marry. It won't be long until my dad starts to convince me to marry...but I'm in no rush, and neither is Astrid. We talked about it and she said that she could wait...which was great news for me because I was sill in the process of making the ring.

"How are you two..." we heard and when we looked at the stairs we saw my dad just smirking at the position we were in, with me laying on the bed with my back leaning against the backboard of the bed and Astrid sitting on my lap and us holding hands. "Does anyone have a sense of privacy anymore?" I asked, once again embarrassed at the position we were found in. "I wanted to know how you two were doing" he asked. "We're doing fine chief. I just applied his medicine" she said.

"I just wanted to say that since the treaty with the Berserkers is now broken I wanted to tell you to keep a lookout for when you go out for flights because we know that they won't be afraid to start a fight" my dad explained. "Do you have any idea why Dagur would break this treaty?" he asked. It then got me thinking. Why would Dagur wait this long to start a fight. He could have attacked Berk when I was not here but only now. It might not jump at anyone but considering the many, _many_ weird things that have taken place here, it's hard to disperse. "I have no idea dad, but before he started the fight, he said that he wanted to test me...but what I don't get is why did Alvin, or Dagur even wait this long to attack Berk" I said. Clearly my dad was also thinking the same thing. "I don't know son, but something tells me there is a connection between their attacks. We have to be ready for another attack. Sleep well you two" he said before going back down.

"Oh, good evening Ripper" we heard him say. _"This can only end well"_ I thought and soon we saw Ripper leaning against the doorframe of my room with a smug smile. "What are you doing here Ripper?" Astrid asked. She was just as not in a good mood as me when seeing him, considering the last time he dropped in on us, and this time was no exception either. "What, can't a best friend visit his injured mate...without knowing what position he or his girlfriend would be in?" he asked, but it was a horrible lie as it was clear as crystal on his face he wanted to interrupt us but my dad beat him to it. "You know we haven't forgotten the last time you interrupted us right?" I asked. "How could I, now that is an image I wish I didn't see" he said with a laugh...but that smile was going to be slapped off his face soon. I looked at Astrid with a sly grin and she saw me glance my eyes to something behind her and I knew by her smile she also wanted to see the result of that. "What are you two smiling about now?" he asked.

"Well we did say that you would pay for interrupting as when we were in the forge" Astrid started. I could tell she was waiting eagerly to see the look on his face...and I was also eager as Hel. "Yes, I told you Hiccup that you had nothing to worry about...and wasn't I right about that when you came back you'd be making out with your girlfriend?" he asked, still oblivious to the pain that was going to come to him. "But other than unleashing Astrid unto me...I don't think you can do anything better" he said still basking in his 'thought' protection. "Oh really?" I asked. "Well I'm not going to unleash her...but someone else" I said. "Who?" he asked. I guess he didn't look to the shadows of my room.

"Toothless" I said and he perked his head up at me and looked at me and me and Astrid looked at him. I then glanced to Ripper and he also did. He looked back at me and I winked at him and his ears perked up and he stared back at Ripper, a hint of mischief in his eyes. Ripper looked at Toothless with that glint in his eyes and looked back to see me and Astrid smirking. "You wouldn't" he said as that smug look of invincibility disappeared right off his face. "Sick'em Toothless" he said and that instant he took off down the stairs with a 25-foot Nightfury after him. "This isn't over!" he yelled as he ran out the door with Toothless hot on his trail leaving me and Astrid laughing like Hel.

"Oh Toothless stop with the slob...Gah!" we heard Ripper's yells outside, indicating that Toothless caught him. Nobody could outrun Toothless even if they tried. He was the fast dragon there was. Even if someone did get an early start they'd ben caught in less than thirty seconds. "You're going to pay for that Hiccup" he yelled and me and Astrid were just laughing our guts out. "Think he learned his lesson?" she asked. "Not even close. If I know him he'll find a way to get back at us" I said and we settled in for a long night.

_The Next Day - Berserker Village/ Normal POV_

Dagur watched as four Outcast ships docked at his port. He didn't like his commander's idea one bit...the part where the Outcasts would be coming to _his_ village anyway. He never did like the Outcasts. Sure they loved to fight...lived for it in fact...loved murder and plunder and would do anything they wished because they thought they could get away with it...with the exception when it came to Berk. "Why do they have to come here?" Dagur asked his commander who had just strolled up beside him. "Because it's easier than me going to them" he said with not much care in his voice. In truth he thought it was a ridiculous question. "Is everything in the Hall set?" he asked, still not meeting Dagur's eyes.

Dagur felt his anger growing ever so much. He was one who didn't like taking orders from anyone, and here was this _outsider_ acting all high and mighty on him in his own village. What would that show his men? They would probably think that he's no longer fit to be chief...a joke and a disgrace to the Berserker Tribe. "I wouldn't lose my temper if I were you Dagur" he heard him say, snapping out of his thoughts. "Because if you do disobey me or turn against me I'll wipe you and your tribe off the map...just as I have done with so many tribes who've stood in my way" he answered, giving Dagur a cold...death...glare. "Yes sir, everything's set" he replied to the question his commander had just asked a few seconds ago. "Good, now please wait in the Hall while I get Alvin" he said and began walking to the ships with his dragon behind him. Dagur just cursed under his breath and did as he was told and went to the Hall.

"Mornin' commander. Thanky ya' for inviting us here" Alvin said as he got off his ship with his dragon following him. "Save the nice tone Alvin, I know you don't want to be here...but it's a meeting so that you two can put aside your differences" the man said, cutting straight to the chase of this arrangement. Alvin immediately dropped his face knowing that he had been caught. Just as Dagur, he didn't like the Berserkers, mainly because of their chief who could not be trusted as his mind for violence would find a way to push for deceit in any alliance. "Alvin, push your petty suspicions aside. Dagur won't try anything because if he did he'd have to deal with me" the man said putting his arm around Alvin and leading him to the Hall. Alvin looked around as they walked. Some of the village was burnt down and there was rebuilding going on. But what caught his eye were these new dragons that he'd never seen on his own island or anywhere. He certainly knew that Dagur never had access to dragons and that only this man could have supplied him with them.

They reached the Hall in no time and when they entered they saw in the centre a huge round table where a few people there. Most of them were not from the Berserkers but from other tribes. The heads of the tribes were already sitting down at their respected seats and were waiting for Alvin and their commander to come. Dagur was already at his seat next to an empty one which was at the head of the table. "Alvin please take a seat" the man said and Alvin did as he was told and took the last seat that was meant for him. Dagur eyed Alvin, sending him a mental note that he didn't trust him one bit and Alvin just smiled a toothy grin right back at him.

"Now I invited all of you here for a reason" the man started. "First off my name is Drago Bloodfist, son of Daedra Bloodfist, and I am from the Stofferson Tribe to the east, deep in the shadows of the Dalouwar Mountains. We are the tribe that first tamed the dragons. And that gift has been past down generation after generation. But I'm sure you all heard of the tribe through legends and bedtime stories and _all_ of them are true. Except that now I am the leader of the Tribe and my views are not of my father's. You see unlike him, I saw the potential in dragons...a power that we could harness and control our own" he said as he started walking around the large room, not looking at his guests but looking around thinking what to say next.

"To all of you, dragons are a pest...they raid your villages, steal your livestock, steal your food supplies and even in some instances kill you. But our village knows not just how to tame them, but control them" he said. People could see the glimmer in his eyes when he said that. "Aren't they the same thing?" Dagur asked rather bashfully. "On the contrary, they're completely different things. Taming a dragon just means being its master and letting it have a will of its own...controlling them, you control their will...their power...and that is a secret that only me and my village knows" he continued. "And with that power at your very fingertips, the whole world will bow down to you...and that is exactly what I'm trying to do here...I'm on a quest to conquer all the known cities on the maps, invade new lands and show them the raw power of the Vikings and their weapons...the dragons" he said coming back to the head of the table and placing both his hands on the table and staring at everyone in the room, trying to read their facial expressions to see what they thought.

"And what of those who stand in your way?" Malvor asked, the chief of the Raiders. He was a much older man than Drago, and had many years of experience in fighting. "Simple" he said and in the blink of an eye he threw a hidden dagger he had and hit one of Malvor's guards who was standing beside him right in the neck. The guard had no time to react and he fell back on the ground. Everyone in the room were in complete shock. The people near the guard saw him bleed out, and choke on the dagger that was blocking his trachea. He died in less than a minute. "Does that answer your question?" Drago asked, a small smirk on his face. All the leaders of the five tribes, including Dagur and Alvin stared at him...the latter two staring at him with a smile. _"Finally someone who speaks my language"_ they both thought.

"I _kill_ anyone who stands in my way without hesitation. There have been villages that stood in my way...(sigh)...I warned them...and yet they refused...such an unnecessary loss of life. Those kids had a life ahead of them" Drago said without much sympathy, more like just getting that fact out there. "I will continue to kill anyone who stands in my way...but for those who want to join me...I welcome them with open arms. I teach them on how to capture and train dragons so they can mass their own army and fight with me...but turn on me...and I will kill you all with extreme prejudice...a tribe did try that...and they're no longer with us...so I ask all of you...are you willing to join me, cause if not, you are standing in my way...and will have to be exterminated...because if you are not with me...you are against me" he said standing back and crossing his arms waiting for a response from the five chiefs in front of him.

The five chiefs looked at each other and discussed among themselves. Alvin and Dagur had already made up their minds when they first had a discussion with Drago. Both of their targets were Berk and Drago could give them the means of ending everyone's lives on Berk, and finally they could also move with him in world domination. The three other chiefs stopped discussing and turned their attention back to Drago. "We have agreed to join you Drago" Malvor said standing up. Drago looked at the other two chiefs to see them nod their heads.

Drago smiled inwardly...everything was coming together.

_Berk - Hiccup's POV_

I was in the forge working on a new experiment...well armour if you'd call it. During my training I constantly needed to refit the armour they had for me, and most of the time they were heavy and couldn't really withstand a blow from a sword without it doing serious damage. So I began collecting Toothless' scales and had ideas for making a suit out of that **(A/N: like the one Hiccup wears in the trailer)**. So today began my assembling of it. I first had to stitch all the scales together before I could heat them to set them in place. "Do you really think that can protect you in a fight?" Astrid asked. She was sitting on the bench near the counter looking over what I was doing. "Sort of...it's also to help me stay warm when I'm flying with Toothless high above where it gets really cold. I heard her laugh at one of the sketches of what I'd look like. "What? It's really cool" I said while stitching the scales together. "Yeah...but you look like a dork" she said not putting down the sketch. I simply rolled my eyes...her personality didn't change a lot...and I liked that it didn't.

I was halfway done with the armour and it was extremely tedious work and I had to leave it in the smelter until the scales joined together to form a strong, tough armour. But that wasn't only on my mind. What my dad said about Alvin and Dagur attacking also nagged at me. I mean it was weird that they waited this long. Dagur could have attacked me while I was still on the ship and Alvin could have attacked while I was away, but why now? Why ever since I came back?

"Hiccup, what about the trip that we have planned?" she asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "The trip? What trip?" I asked. These days I had so much on my plate that it was hard to keep track of anything. "Our usual dragon bonding experience with the others" she said. Now I remembered. Before I left we had these trips that we took to help bond more with each other and most of them just turned into war games where split up into teams and tried to survive each other for a whole two weeks and it took place on an island that was a five hour flight from Berk. "Oh yeah, that...I haven't had time to prepare myself for that. When do we leave?" I asked. "Well since I became the headmistress at the Academy, we'll be leaving in two days time" she said. "Woah...mistress? Never figured you for the mistress type, warrior yes...not mistress" I said.

"Well since you were _headmaster_, when I took over the guys just gave me that title. And besides, I like it" she said as she got up and came beside me. "Did you go on these bonding trips when I wasn't here?" I asked. "No, since we wouldn't have been able to split up into teams" she said. "Plus this time it's going to be interesting, because the team who loses this time has to wash everyone's dragon for half a year" she said. "So don't mess this up Hiccup" she said as punched me on the shoulder. "Oh please I would I want to be washing dragons with you...wait? How would that be?" I asked myself as I started imagining me and Astrid washing the dragons...and oh Gods, did she look...

"OW!" I was snapped out of my thoughts when Astrid punched me really hard on the shoulder. "What was that for!?" I asked rubbing it. "That was for imagining me washing dragons...and I'm not going any further" she said raising her hand and I blushed at that comment. "Hey I'm a guy in my late teens with the most beautiful girl in Berk...not my fault something like that would cross my mind...when she brought it up. "Oh I'm gonna definitely lose on purpose" I said, making it her turn to blush. "Oh really now?" she asked and I immediately noticed the change in her tone. When I turned around I saw that she had got off her bench and was walking towards me. She didn't have the intention to kill me, but she had that smile where I didn't know what she would do. Her eyes gave her that smile that made her unpredictable. Her hips swayed in a fashion that only I would notice and no one else and soon she was right in front of me. "And why would you do that?" she asked in a seductive whisper as he she wrapped one of her arms around my neck.

"C-cau-cause...we-well...I-I...I...you...se-see... " I stammered like Hel. Well who wouldn't when a girl like her would be cornering you like this. She giggled seeing my reaction and started nibbling my neck. _"What is she trying to do?!"_ my mind screamed at me. She stopped her...I don't know what...and looked at me with those blue eyes of hers. "Is that what you expect to happen if we lose?" she asked continuing to twirl her finger in my hair while brushing my lips with her lips. If that's what this was all about...she couldn't have introduced it in a more...subtle way. I still couldn't gather myself. My legs were weak, my mind was confused frustrated, my neck tingled, my hair felt funny and...my whole body just didn't feel like moving...she had that kind of an effect on me when she did this.

_Normal POV_

_"Hiccup's just too easy" _Astrid thought as she continued putting up her act. She loved to see him like this, how he got really awkward whenever she tried to act sexy around him. Even though he's grown up, he hasn't changed one bit when it comes to her. "Well? Do you expect it to be like this if we lose?" she asked again. Hiccup blinked his eyes, trying to recollect his thoughts which were at all parts in his mind right now. "We...Well...I-I-I..." he couldn't say anything else. Astrid continued her toying with him as she plastered his face with soft tender kisses. She was trying so hard not to break down laughing at his expression. When she stopped she thought she went too far because Hiccup now looked he just broke his brain trying to understand what she was doing. "Hiccup?" she asked breaking him out of his trance...again. Now she could start laughing and she did.

"I hate it when you do that" he said slacking down onto the ground of the forge trying to regain his breath. Astrid knelt down beside him seeing the effect she had on him when she really _turned it on_. "I'm sorry Hiccup...it's just too cute when you get awkward when I do that" she said brushing some of the hair away from his forehead. "Wonderful to see that you can use my weakness to your own pleasure" he said in his usual sarcastic voice. He did get a bit irritated by it though. "So refresh me, what do we need for this bonding trip" he asked. It's been a long time since he'd done something like this. In his training it was usually him and a few others and he was supposed to lead them. These took place in wilderness areas where nothing could go wrong if Hiccup could not lead them properly.

"Well basic supplies such as food and water and when we get there we split into teams of two and try to survive for 2 weeks with who and what we have and we can use our dragons as well for this. If we engage each other in a 'fight'..." she said using air quotes, "...the losing team is out and have to wash the dragons" she explained. "It doesn't sound that tough" Hiccup said returning to his armour.

"Well it actually is because you have to keep looking over your shoulder for 2 weeks straight, find a place to live that is well hidden and not easily accessible, keep moving and strategize on how to get the others caught" she said. When she said it like that it didn't sound easy at all. "Oh yeah by the way, you remember Heather yeah?" she asked. _"How could I forget?"_ I said to myself. "Well she'll be moving to Berk tomorrow with her parents, and she told me she wanted to join us" she said.

"Wait a minute, since when did you become pen pals?" he asked. The last time...and everyone remembers that...Astrid was jealous of Heather because she was getting all of Hiccup's attention...not only that she was trying to steal the Book Of Dragons. "Well she did visit once when you were not here...and she wanted to apologize for what she had done, and she hoped that we had forgiven her. And since I was in charge I thought of what you would have done and I forgave her and ever since then she became friends with all of us" Astrid explained.

"Well, what do you know, I'm starting to rub off on you" Hiccup said laughing a bit. "Yeah it was a one time thing so..." she said and punched him in the arm. "Ow!" Take it easy, soon I'll have to ask Gothi to look at this arm" he said rubbing away the bruise that was most likely there.

"Wait if she's coming doesn't that mean there'll be seven of us?" Hiccup asked. "Yes, why do you ask?" she replied. "Well if we're going to split up into groups of two, who is she going to be paired up with?" he asked. Astrid never thought about that and when they both began to think about it...

"I still think I have Toothless slobber in my hair" they heard and saw Ripper walk in. "I am so going to get you back Hiccup" he said, still rubbing his hair. Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other and smiled and then back to Ripper.

Ripper noticed this and their smiles, "he's not here is he?" he asked, getting tense and looking around for a big, black-scaled dragon. "(Chuckle) No Ripper he's not here, and the reason we're smiling is that we have this bonding trip coming up in two days where we travel to this island that's a five hour flight from here and we split into groups of two and try to survive from getting caught for two weeks on that island" Hiccup explained. "Sounds like fun...who will I be with?" Ripper asked.

"Heather" Hiccup and Astrid both answered. "On second thoughts I might skip it" he said and walking out of the forge. "Losing team have to wash all the dragons for six months" Hiccup yelled after him and just like that Ripper was back in the forge. "Well in that case...count me in...Razorcut has needed a wash" he said with a smug smile.

"This trip will be interesting" Astrid said. And boy was it going to be a life-changing experience.


End file.
